Systematic determination of seismic safety levels for design of R/C buildings

Abstract

This chapter proposes an approach for the systematic determination of the appropriate target reliability (or acceptable risk) for the earthquake-resistant design of reinforced concrete (R/C) buildings in Mexico City. The required acceptable risks for life safety and damage control may be determined on the basis of minimizing the respective expected life-cycle costs, from which the corresponding criteria for design may be derived. Cost is invariably important in engineering design; in particular, the total life-cycle cost of the system is of special concern. Systematic determination requires the proper integration of seismic hazard analysis, damage and reliability assessments, and formulation of appropriate life-cycle cost functions. This is especially pertinent in the case of design for damage control. The necessary models and tools are now available that allow the systematic determination of optimal risks from which the appropriate design criteria for safety and performance can be developed. The resulting target reliabilities are then translated into corresponding seismic base coefficients for damage control and life safety.