Evaluation of the Vulnerability Index for Unreinforced Masonry Structures

Buildings constructed before the sixties in Algerian urban areas, are typically low and mid rise multi-storey buildings made of stone and/or brick masonry walls or infill light steel framing. These types of buildings are known to be vulnerable to seismic effects. Within this paper, an assessment of such existing structures, using the “Vulnerability Index” method is presented. This allows a good classification and description of the seismic quality of the structures taking into account both, structural and non structural parameters considered to be ones of the main parameters governing the vulnerability of the structure. A technical data sheet, including all information that might be used in an associated computer program in Delphi is subsequently developed. The results obtained show that the established classification confirms the observed information in situ.