Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal Structure: A Study on Port Buildings

Abstract

Ports are lifeline systems that function as storage and maintenance facilities for the transport of cargos. The port structures are frequently exposed to failure under severe seismic loading, for example, 1995 Kobe, 1989 Loma prieta, 1999 Kocaeli and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes. The scenario is more critical if the port sites are located within the seismically vulnerable area like Gujarat state of India. This clearly indicates the importance of port buildings and stability that can withstand natural disasters particularly earthquakes. The main objective of this paper is to perform the nonlinear dynamic analysis of Kandla port building subjected to ground motion. Ground motions generated by Institute of Seismological Research (ISR), Gujarat at four locations on Katrol Hill Fault (KHF) and Kachchh Mainland Fault (KMF) were used in the analysis. Finally, the damage of the Kandla port building is estimated though fragility curves. The damage values obtained from fragility curve are 0.46, 0.17 and 0.88 for KHF Mandvi, NKF Jodiya and KMF Jhangi ground motions respectively.