The assessment of seismic risk for critical and strategic structures like schools and hospitals remains crucial, even in regions with low seismic activity. Presently, operational school buildings in Sri Lanka are primarily designed to handle gravitational loads without considering capacity-based design principles. Consequently, these structures may lack the necessary lateral resistance to mitigate potential damage or collapse during future earthquakes in Sri Lanka. Hence, conducting seismic risk assessments for such school buildings is imperative to ensure the safety of their occupants. In this research paper, we utilize a recently developed probabilistic seismic hazard map for Sri Lanka to evaluate seismic risk. We employ two nonlinear 3-D finite element models of school buildings created in OpenSees. Incremental Dynamic Analysis is conducted using a well-established set of ground motions, continuing until the structure approaches the point of collapse, to determine the probability of collapse prevention. Subsequently, we develop fragility functions for two limit states, immediate occupancy, and collapse prevention. These fragility curves are then used to compute the probability of exceeding these limit states, aiding in the assessment of the structural safety of the school buildings. A key outcome of this analysis reveals a general trend of increased damage probabilities as the number of stories in the buildings increases despite the distinct structural characteristics of each building. It is also important to note that the disparities between the immediate occupancy and more severe damage cases, such as collapse prevention, are notably pronounced in both two- and three-story school buildings.

Structurally efficient cold-formed web-stiffened steel studs are increasingly used in light steel framed walls, but they are prone to distortional buckling. This research investigates the distortional buckling behaviour of gypsum plasterboard sheathed studs under both ambient and fire conditions. Using experimental, numerical and analytical studies, the composite behaviour of steel studs and sheathing subject to distortional buckling was investigated and improved design guidelines were developed allowing for safe and economical design. Overall, this research has significantly enhanced the knowledge and understanding of the behaviour and design of cold-formed steel stud walls subject to distortional buckling under ambient and fire conditions.