Assessment of reliability in seismic design of reinforced concrete structures according to the 2nd generation of Eurocode 8

The recent extreme seismic events recorded throughout the world have brought with them numerous questions to structural engineering; among them, knowing reliably if a structure already built has sufficient capacity to withstand large-scale events. Furthermore, there is a need to know the degree of overdesign or under-design in which recent structures have been designed, taking into account the seismic zone in which it is located, the type of structural system and the design concept used. It is here where novel approaches, such as the probabilistic criterion, take place. The reliability evaluation developed in this project, established in the new generation of Eurocode 8 (EC8), is based on the modelling of a determined reinforced concrete structure (designed with the current version of EC8), in which non-linear response-history analyzes are performed in order to represent the seismic action and therefore, the required seismic demand. In this case, the seismic hazard defined for Belgium will be evaluated. On the other hand, the method here developed with this second version of EC8 allows defining the limit values of the parameters that affect the annual probability of exceedance of a seismic event of a given limit state, when compared with the target annual probability of exceedance of a limit state for a given consequence class.