Seismic vulnerability assessment of corner buildings in the historical centre of Timisoara

The identification of procedures for the seismic risk mitigation of historical centers necessarily requires a preliminary study of the seismic vulnerability assessment on a urban scale of its building heritage. Methodologies defined for the latter purpose should be appropriately calibrated considering building features and construction techniques of the analyzed area, allowing their implementation in different local contexts. This paper focuses on the seismic vulnerability assessment of the historical center of Timisoara (Romania). The center is formed by blocks mostly belonging to the Hapsburg period, which are characterized by recurring construction techniques and building geometries. In particular, corner buildings and their façades are analyzed in order to define recurring typologies. For the most representative ones, an analysis of the in-plane local mechanisms of collapse of the façades facing the street is performed by adopting a kinematic approach. The data acquisition is based on a rapid survey which does not require physically entering each single building; as a consequence, geometrical and structural data are varied parametrically in order to take into consideration the possible lack of information or the data uncertainty. Carried on analyses led to the definition of the fragility curves for the in-plane mechanisms. However, this approach allows assessing the façades vulnerability by defining an a priori damage pattern based on façades geometrical configuration. In order to assess more accurately the damage pattern evolution, a global analysis of the most representative corner buildings typologies is carried out, deepening also the study of buildings aggregation modes. This study will contribute to the creation of useful tools for the evaluation of aggregate buildings vulnerability (for example, vulnerability maps) and, as a consequence, for the definition of strategies to reduce the seismic risk.