A numerical study on the collapse of a precast industrial building

This paper describes the numerical investigation carried out on a prefabricated building, de-signed without any seismic provision, which collapsed during the earthquake that took place in 2012 in Northern Italy. The results of a series of analyses, which were used both to interpret the collapse of the build-ing and to highlight the influence on the structural behavior of different critical factors, are illustrated. In view of identifying the phenomena that triggered the collapse of the structure and to compare different modelling assumptions, linear analyses were carried out. An accurate analysis and comparison of the modal deformed shapes made it possible to highlight the role played by geometric irregularities, and, more in general, to point out the very complex behavior of the building at issue. In addition, time history analyses allowed to more ac-curately describing the global structural behavior, as well as highlighting critical aspects on single structural members.