Seismic design for damage control and repairability - Texas A&M University (TAMU) Scholar

The seismic design philosophy currently followed in the United States and many other earthquake-prone countries relies on controlling damage through energy dissipation. Ductility based design assumes earthquake loads to be significantly greater than the available strength capacity of the given structural system and its critical elements. Thus it is not surprising that inelastic behavior and damage was observed in structural components resisting lateral loads in recent catastrophic seismic events such as Mexico City 1985, Loma Prieta 1989, Northridge 1994 and the Great Hanshin (Kobe) 1995 earthquake. It is extremely unfortunate that neither control nor rapairability of damage are issues that are addressed to any length in present codes. However, such issues could be important for lifeline structures that need to quickly recover and be back in service following a destructive earthquake. Recent research carried out at the University at Buffalo looks at the current design philosophy from a whole new perspective where damage control is the primary aim in conjunction with providing a predictable ductile flexural behavior.

Seismic design for damage control and repairability Conference Paper