Evaluation of the design characteristics of a multi-story reinforced concrete building with a heavily damaged elevator shear wall following the february 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

The February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes have once again exposed the seismic vulnerabilities of the existing building stock, making the performance evaluation of these structures a critical issue. This thesis aims to investigate the design characteristics and damage mechanism of a multi-story reinforced concrete building in Malatya, whose elevator shear wall sustained heavy damage following the earthquakes. The study's primary hypothesis is that the damage was caused by a combination of torsional effects arising from an asymmetric shear wall layout, discrepancies between the original design and its on-site application, and inadequate reinforcement detailing. The sample is a single 7-story reinforced concrete structure located in Yeşilyurt, Malatya. Methodologically, a structural survey of the building was conducted, material properties were determined using both destructive (core samples) and non-destructive testing (NDT), and a three-dimensional structural performance analysis was carried out based on the Turkish Building Earthquake Code (TBEC-2018) using the collected data. The analysis revealed that while the building's overall performance corresponds to the "Controlled Damage" level, the severe damage observed in the elevator shear wall and the high displacement demands in the Y-direction indicate significant structural deficiencies. In conclusion, it was determined that flaws during the design and construction phases pose a serious risk to life safety by triggering local collapse mechanisms, even when the structure's overall performance target is seemingly met