Effects of self-centering structural systems on regional seismic resilience

Self-centering systems were proposed to reduce residual drift and increase resiliency of buildings under earthquake loads. However, limited studies have tried to apply self-centering systems to a portfolio of buildings in a regional seismic loss assessment. In this study, the effects of self-centering buildings on regional seismic resilience are examined. To show utility of self-centering structural systems, the San Francisco Bay Area, with 15836 buildings, is selected as the case-study region. A M W 7 scenario earthquake is considered to carry out probabilistic regional loss assessment. A self-centering factor is proposed to consider the different levels of self-centering capacity, and a comparative analysis is conducted between conventional and self-centering buildings. The results highlight that the benefits brought by smaller residual drifts of the self-centering buildings can overcome the disadvantage of higher seismic demands. • A simplified self-centering factor is proposed for modeling self-centering buildings. • Comparative analyses of regional seismic losses are presented. • The importance of optimizing self-centering levels is highlighted. • Simulations of intensity measure fields are performed for resilience assessment.