NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Multiple Failure Risk of Spatially Distributed Structures. Seismic Design Decision Analysis.
- File
- PB293938.pdf
- Author(s)
- Taleb-Agha, G.; Hein, K.
- Source
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. Applied Science and Research Applications., February 1975, 17 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- INTERNAL STUDY-53
- Abstract
- The problem being considered in this report is the following: given a set of N sites, each with an associated critical level of earthquake intensity (which may, for example, be a threshold intensity of damage), what is the probability of simultaneously equaling or exceeding any q out of the N intensities within a specified period of time. The method developed is applied to a hypothetical problem which illustrates the possible application to a real problem. It is presumed that in New England there are nine nuclear power plants. These nine are either already in operation or under construction or in initial stages of design. The operating basis earthquake intensity for these plants is considered to be M.M.I. VI, which corresponds to an acceleration of 31.6 cm/second squared. For the region considered there are three seismically active areas, and a seismically active background area. This is the same problem treated in Internal Study Report Number 51, which uses a computer program developed in Russia. The results from the present study with those in Internal Study Report Number 51 are compared. The comparison involves the intensity approach and firm soil. In a general sense, the two sets of results are within the same range of order of magnitude.
- Keywords
- Probability theory; Earthquake resistant structures; Failure; New England; Massachusetts; Vermont; Seismic risk; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; Maine; Ground motion; Earthquake engineering; Nuclear power plants; Earthquakes