Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione, CNR

Wastewater disposal systems are complex systems composed by several interconnected elements. In the aftermath of dramatic natural events, such as the earthquake, the failure of any of these elements can result in the deterioration of the environment as well as in the risk for the exposed population, due to leakage of untreated or un-properly treated wastewater on soil and/or its discharge into superficial waters. This paper presents a multi-disciplinary methodology for the evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of municipal or industrial wastewater treatment plants, based on damage observation of available earth- quake reports. Specific fragility curves and threshold values expressed in terms of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) are presented and compared with existing functions. The methodology fully comply requirements of most relevant and effective risk analysis tools or for land-use planning and can be adopted for the definition of structural priorities of plants.

The structural integrity of pipelines undergone seismic waves is crucial for industrial installation and for the distributed transportation networks of gaseous and liquid fluids. However, it is nowadays proved that the definition of seismic vulnerability based on purely, structural-derived limit states or on return-to-service or even on the purely economic repair rate indications, is not sufficient for the holistic analysis of risks. On the other hand, detailed numerical studies based on full analyses (including fluid/soil/structure interaction) are too expensive for the aims of risk assessment and simplified methodologies are still needed.In this paper, a large database of earthquake-induced damage for steel and non-steel pipelines is presented. Each case was analyzed and collected from post-earthquake reconnaissance, seismic engineering reports and technical papers. The database may be adopted for the definition of specific vulnerability function (fragility curves), which are commonly implemented in multi-hazard analyses, and more in general for the assessment of Na-Tech risks (Natural events triggering Technological disasters). Seismic damage to pipelines in the framework of Na-Tech risk assessment. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271673585_Seismic_damage_to_pipelines_in_the_framework_of_Na-Tech_risk_assessment [accessed Jun 12, 2015].