NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Seismic Design Decision Analysis.
- File
- PB282979.pdf
- Author(s)
- Whitman, R. V.; Biggs, J. M.; Brennan, J.; Cornell, C. A.; de Neufville, R.
- Source
- National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. Applied Science and Research Applications., March 1974, 33 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- ['P74-1', 'STRUCTURES PUB-381']
- Abstract
- This paper describes and illustrates a procedure for organizing into a useful format the information required to arrive at a balance between the cost of earthquake resistant design and the risk of damage and death vs. future earthquakes. The procedure, Seismic Design Decision Analysis (SDDA), is illustrated in the presentation of a pilot application involving buildings of moderate height in Boston. The heart of the methodology is examination, in probabilistic terms, of the damage which one earthquake will cause to a particular building system designed according to a particular design strategy. This evaluation is repeated for different levels of earthquakes, different design strategies, and for differnt types of buildings. The lateral force requirements for 5- to 20-story apartment buildings in Boston are studied. This paper discusses the results for reinforced concrete buildings. All designs have to resist the wind loading required by the Boston Building Code: 20 psf. Drift requirements under both wind (1/600) and earthquake (1/300) were considered as well as permissible stresses. Five different design strategies were considered. Four of these are the requirements for seismic zones 0, 1, 2, and 3 of the UBC, 1970 edition. The fifth design strategy, designated as superzone S, required forces twice as great as for zone 3.
- Keywords
- Seismic design; Earthquake resistant structures; Probability; Massachusetts; Seismic risk; Earth movements; Structural design; Ground motion; Earthquake engineering; Boston (Massachusetts); Design standards; Building codes; Concrete construction; Earthquakes