Field testing for seismic vulnerability assessment

Seismic assessment of important existing structures that are designed according to prior seismic codes or even without considering any earthquake load is one of the most important issues for minimizing the seismic vulnerability. Within EU project NERA (acronym for `Network of European Research Infrastructures for Earthquake Risk Assessment and Mitigation´ the main goal is to achieve a measurable improvement and longterm impact on the assessment and reduction of vulnerability of constructions and citizens to earthquakes. The objective of work package NA6 is to harness the European strength in vibration monitoring and field testing in order to establish a network of research organisations and a world-leading field testing capacity with standardized approaches. A further target is the enhancement of research on structural safety analysis and the promotion of its implementation in building practice. For the purposes of this research, a questionnaire was set up and the experience of more than 300 experts in the area of field testing was collected with the goal to identify the needs in this research area. Field testing is defined in this context as the complete range of related activities, like building or bridge structural response/performance studies, soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) studies or response/performance studies for geo-structures or soil deposits. Within the project work two Guidelines will be developed, on the one hand the "Guideline for designing optimal dynamic monitoring strategies" and on the other hand the "Guideline for optimal design of force vibration method". In the mentioned guidelines the benefits of using field testing will be highlighted and an overview about new developments will be given. The paper will present a summary about the developed Guidelines and detailed case studies in the context of seismic vulnerability assessment will be discussed.