Some remarks on the seismic assessment of RC frames affected by carbonation-induced corrosion of steel bars

Abstract

In Europe, a significant number of existing buildings have been built in the two decades following WW2 and, hence, they are often affected by degradation phenomena, which result in reducing the resisting sections of structural members. Moreover, in areas currently classified as earthquake-prone, the same buildings were originally designed by either considering only gravitational actions or assuming outdated seismic design criteria. Therefore, the effect of degradation on under designed structure is a subject of concern and needs to be properly addressed with the aim to achieve a realistic assessment of the current safety level of existing RC frames in seismic areas. The present paper presents some numerical results of seismic analyses carried out on structural models including the effect of carbonation-induced corrosion of steel bars in RC members.