Seismic response of corroded r.c. structures

An accurate diagnosis of r.c. structures requires the investigation oftheir progressive degradation over time. As a matter of fact, the increasing damage resulting from the environmental attacks that the structure may suffer during its service life, affects not only the load hearing capacity, but also the failure mechanism, leading to a more brittle behavior. The loss of ductility strongly influences the structural response to extemal loads especially in seismic conditions and an effective non linear model able to account for these aspects is strongly required. In this paper, the preliminary results of an investigation conceming the effects of steel corrosion on the seismic response of r.c. structures are presented. Some case studies are analyzed under a moderate corrosive attack and the outcomes are discussed in terms of capacity curves and compared with the provisions of the European Code