Abstract
Although the precepts of capacity design and detailing for ductile performance are now well established, the end-user community is now demanding more in terms of predictable performance with an expectation that structures should survive earthquakes with minimal and preferably no damage. The paper first explains the shortcomings of present designs from a probabilistic fragility point-of-view, and then goes on to explain how performance can be improved by making a paradigm shift. This paper examines the emerging quest where structural engineering researchers are investigating design alternatives that strive for damage avoidance.
Highlights
The 1970' s saw the widespread emergence of contemporary earthquake engineering
In the United States, concentrated on issues concerned with seismic analysis, it was the pragmatism of the New Zealand structural engineering community that led to a focus on design for ductility
Park and Paulay working on reinforced concrete structures
Summary
The 1970' s saw the widespread emergence of contemporary earthquake engineering. While many investigators, in the United States, concentrated on issues concerned with seismic analysis, it was the pragmatism of the New Zealand structural engineering community that led to a focus on design for ductility. In spite of developing robust ductile frames in accordance with the principles of capacity design and ductile detailing espoused originally in Park and Paulay (1975), the performance of floor-frame interaction still leaves a lot to be desired, as discussed in Matthews et al (2003 ). Recent earthquakes, such as the 1989 Loma Prieta, l994 Northridge and l995 Kobe events demonstrate the societal outrage associated with the loss of post-earthquake serviceability of many buildings and facilities, that earthquake resistant suffered significant damage. The paper will go on to describe new seismic design paradigms that attempt to overcome one of the significant shortcomings of the large majority of present ductile structures-that ductile structures sustain damage in earthquakes, and life-safety may be maintained, continued amenity may not
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