NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Interim Testing Protocols for Determining the Seismic Performance Characteristics of Structural and Nonstructural Components.
- File
- PB2008104492.pdf
- Source
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC., June 2007, 138 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- FEMA-461
- Abstract
- The testing protocols provided in this document have been prepared to support the development of seismic performance assessment procedures, which when implemented will enable a better understanding of the probable performance of a building and its constituent components. The protocols are intended to serve as an interim basis for testing of building components and systems to establish their performance capability as measured by their fragility functions. Fragility functions are mathematical relationships used to assess the performance of the individual components, of systems incorporating these components, and entire buildings containing these components, when subjected to loading caused by earthquake ground shaking. A fragility function indicates the probability that a component or system will experience damage at or in excess of a specific level, given that the component or system experiences a specific level of demand. Fragilities are expressed as probability distributions, rather than deterministic relationships in order to account for the uncertainties inherent in the process of predicting damage as a function of demand.
- Keywords
- Testing protocols; Seismic design; Applied Technology Council; ATC (Applied Technology Council); FEMA; Cyclic tests; Fragility functions; Buildings; Earthquake engineering; Acceleration; Testing procedures; Displacement; Shake table tests