Influence of epistemic uncertainties on the seismic vulnerability assessment of an existing RC building

Epistemic uncertainties can significantly influence the seismic response of existing reinforced concrete buildings. In particular, the lack of information related to the infill and structural material properties affects the accuracy of the results, encumbering the seismic vulnerability assessment of the building. In light of the above, this paper aims at investigating and quantifying the influence of uncertainties related to infill and structural material properties in the seismic vulnerability assessment. To deal with this issue, the seismic response of a case-study hospital building subjected to low seismic intensities through nonlinear time-history analyses has been investigated. The outcomes, provided in terms of inter-storey drift profiles and absolute acceleration floor response spectra, highlighted the importance of proper in situ testing, necessary to reduce as much as possible the impact of epistemic uncertainties in the performance evaluation.