AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This module is designed to provide the fundamental principles of the dynamic nature of environmental systems, and to provide students with basic conceptual tools for quantitative analysis of change for the most significant environmental problem areas. The module will provide the student with a unique combination of theoretical and conceptual basis for modelling environmental risks and sustainability, and hands-on knowledge on how to approach the modelling of complex environmental systems, often described as a system of systems with natural and anthropogenic interacting components.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the module, the student will be able to:

• clarify the concepts of seismic risk and risk elements (hazard, exposure, and vulnerability) 
• define the resilience concept and its interdisciplinary applications
• describe the main steps, differences, and analogies of seismic hazard analyses performed according to a deterministic vs a probabilistic approach
• analyze the principles of seismic response of masonry and reinforced concrete buildings
• identify the main aspects of structural vulnerability and discuss how they can affect the seismic response
• discuss the different possible seismic risk reduction policies in the three phases of risk management (pre-event, emergency state, and post-event)
• describe the different forms currently used in the post-earthquake damage survey for the practicability assessment of ordinary buildings and churches and apply them to actual case studies to compute the damage and vulnerability indexes
• perform a seismic risk analysis at a territorial scale (using the IRMA platform), analyze and comment on the results

TEACHING METHODS

- Frontal lessons

- Case-studies

- Practical exercises developed by the students under the teacher's supervision:

• Practical exercise in the classroom: the students will perform a seismic risk analysis on different territorial areas (municipalities, provinces, regions) using the IRMA (Italian Risk Maps) platform (developed by EUCENTRE for Civil Protection) to: implement the fragility curves of the different types of buildings; estimate the expected damage to buildings (number of collapses and unusable buildings).
• Practical application in the field: the students will fill in the post-earthquake damage form available for Churches to compute the vulnerability index on a selected case study (i.e., a church in the historical center of Genoa).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Risk on the built environment

Introduction to natural disasters and risk elements (hazard, exposure, and vulnerability); Resilience concept and its interdisciplinary applications

2. Seismic Hazard (recall of the basics concepts)

• Earthquakes origin, mechanics, and effects (basics of seismology)
• Hazard as risk element: deterministic vs probabilistic hazard analysis

3. Exposure information

Introduction to the people, property, other assets, or systems exposed to seismic hazards

4. Dynamic response of structural systems and seismic action (recall to the basics concepts)

Introduction to the basic concepts of structural dynamics by means of an elementary mathematical model: the SDOF system

5. Vulnerability to earthquakes, part I: seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) structures

• Brief recall of the material behaviour 
• Introduction to the concepts of structural typologies, morphology, and structural ductility
• Focus on structural deficiencies and collapse mechanisms exhibited by existing RC buildings after past earthquakes

6. Vulnerability to earthquakes, part I: seismic response of masonry structures

• Brief recall of the material behaviour 
• Vulnerability factors for masonry structures
• Seismic response of ordinary masonry buildings (1st mode and 2nd mode mechanisms)
• Seismic response of monumental structures (e.g. churches)

7. Vulnerability to earthquakes, part II: fragility curves

Analysis of the different approaches for the derivation of fragility curves: empirical, expert elicitation, numerical and hybrid methods; critical aspects in the derivation; treatment of uncertainties; practical example on the definition of numerical fragility curves

8. Seismic risk reduction policies in the three phases of risk management: pre-event, emergency state, and post-event

Presentation of the three phases of risk management and overview of the different possible risk reduction policies: 1) pre-event (Mitigation efforts and Preparedness – education, emergency management planning); 2) response (Emergency state); 3) post-event (Recovery)

9. Post-earthquake damage survey

• Description of the survey forms at present used by the Civil Protection to evaluate post-earthquake damage and vulnerability at national level for residential and monumental buildings
• Practical examples: post-earthquake damage survey applied to some case studies hit by the last Italian earthquakes in order to evaluate the damage and vulnerability indexes

This course contributes to the achievement of the following Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda: Objective n. 11 - Città e comunità sostenibili

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Course’s notes, available on AulaWeb
• References to journal papers provided by the teacher during the course

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

For students attending the classes in person: Oral exam consisting of the discussion of a PowerPoint presentation carried out by the student, related to the practical exercises developed during the module plus questions about the topics discussed.

For students NOT attending the classes in person: Test with open-ended questions dealing with the topics of the whole program discussed during the module.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Federico Scarpa (federico.scarpa@unige.it), the disability liaison for the Engineering study programs.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For students attending the classes in person, the assessment will concern: 

• capacity to synthesize and critically discuss in the presentation the applied procedure and the results obtained from the practical exercises
• capacity to express the contents with clarity and precision of terminology
• capacity to link the presentation to the topics discussed in the program

For students NOT attending the classes in person, the assessment will concern:

• capacity to express the program contents with clarity and precision of terminology
• capacity to link the topics discussed in the program with real cases

FURTHER INFORMATION

All course information is given in the classroom, through Aulaweb or on Teams.

For further information, the student can contact the teacher by email.