Functionality Loss and Recovery Time Models for Structural Elements, Non-Structural Components, and Delay Times to Estimate the Seismic Resilience of Mexican School Buildings

Concerns about prolonged downtime and functionality losses observed after recent seismic events have made it clear that seismic design is heading towards a resilience-based approach. However, there is still currently no clear consensus on how to quantify and interpret resilience. In this document, a probabilistic approach to estimate recovery times and functionality loss in buildings is presented, which allows for the estimation of seismic resilience through consideration of delay times and the behavior of non-structural elements. To achieve these goals, simple models that associate structural response and the resilience parameters (recovery time and functionality) are defined. The proposed approach was implemented in a database for public school buildings in Puebla City, where the expected times and functionality were obtained, thus allowing for quantification of the seismic resilience of each structure. Furthermore, target values for low and high resilience are proposed, which helps to identify the weakest elements in the educative Mexican infrastructure. The results showed that the inclusion of delay times and non-structural elements in resilience quantification is mandatory if an overestimation of resilience values is to be avoided. At the same time, the target values allow for the different structures to be categorized according to the resilience values obtained, finding that a significant portion of Mexican school buildings are underprepared in a resilience context.

Automated summary

Concerns about prolonged downtime and functionality losses after recent seismic events indicate a shift towards a resilience-based approach in seismic design. This study presents a probabilistic approach to estimate recovery times and functionality loss in buildings, allowing for the quantification of seismic resilience through consideration of delay times and non-structural elements. Implementation of this approach in a public school building database in Puebla City revealed the weak elements in the Mexican educational infrastructure and highlighted the importance of including delay times and non-structural elements in resilience quantification to avoid overestimation.