The vulnerability of structures to unforeseen events

A structure is vulnerable to an unforeseen event if it is not sufficiently robust. One insight into the lack of robustness is gained through the vulnerability of a structure to disproportionate collapse. In this paper, the importance of assessing the vulnerability of a structure to unforeseen events is highlighted and the nature of unforeseen events examined. A theory of structural vulnerability which examines the form of the structure to determine the most vulnerable sequence of failure events is briefly described. The potential for damage to propagate through a structure is examined through a new measure of hazard potential and vertical pushover analysis. An analysis of an example structure shows that such an approach is able to capture the weaknesses in a structure either due to form or external actions.