This works deals with the seismic vulnerability of buildings in the Pyrenees mountains region where almost a thousand earthquakes are recorded each year in the border area. The challenge is twofold: first to detect the damage due to seismic events and then to localize it inside studied buildings. Modal Operational Analysis coupled with numerical modelling by Finite Element (FE) constitutes an interesting tool to address these issues. Here we intend to apply such methodology on a concrete building located in Andorre-la-Vieille (Edifici administratiu del Prat del Rull del govern d'Andorra). This building is a strategic place because it is where the Civil Protection Department of the Andorra Principality is based.
The structural behaviour of the building is studied through frequency computation method in order to identify its undamaged behaviour. A seismic event is next simulated by a non-linear dynamic computation method which creates damage within the structure. Numerical results (eigen frequency, modal shapes and damage location) allow to highlight damaged zones induced by the earthquake and quantify degradation level in these areas. Various materials properties, boundary conditions and damage model are implemented so as to provide a sensitivity analysis of the results. Accordingly, some guidelines may be given in view of the future instrumentation of the building (accelerometers and RAR).
This work is a part of the cross-border area POCRISC project. POCRISC EFA158/16 project is 65% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg V-A Spain France Andorra program (POCTEFA 2014-2020). POCTEFA aims to reinforce the economic and social integration of the French–Spanish–Andorran border. Its support is focused on developing economic, social and environmental cross-border activities through joint strategies favoring sustainable territorial development. The project started in January 2018 and lasts 3 years (2018-2020). The objective of this international collaboration (concerning regions of Catalonia in Spain, Occitania in France and Andorra) is to develop a common culture of the seismic risk in the Pyrenees in order to harmonize approximations of the seismic vulnerability and risk, and thereby promote the dissemination of the common and shared information to both local authorities and the public. At the same time, it is intended to provide tools to decision help adapted to necessities of seismic crisis managers.