Seismic safety assessment of “Palácio do Itamaraty” at Brasília reliability-based

Abstract

In Brasilia (Brazil) heritage buildings have been designed without considering seismic loads. The aim of the paper is to assess seismic behavior of reinforced concrete structure of “Palácio do Itamaraty”. In this study, Monte Carlo simulation technique is implemented in Hirosawa method to examine structural level of safety. Reliability indexes for each floor are estimated and comparisons to target reliability indexes are made. The sensitivity of different input variables is also studied. Seismic indexes of structure for each floor remained greater than seismic demand indexes in all Brazilian seismic zones through Hirosawa method. Despite of, inadequate reliability indexes is noticed in all floor, which implies that structure is not enough to guarantee an adequate performance. Sensitivity analysis shows the influence of irregularity of structure in seismic response. The results highlight the importance of a probabilistic approach by Hirosawa Method to assertive decisions of conservation and rehabilitation of architectural heritage subject to seismic hazards.