Earthquake engineering in China

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Application of consequence-based design criteria in regions of moderate seismicity

Hu Yuxian (胡聿贤)

Institute of Geophysics, China Seismological Bureau, Beijing 100081, China

Abstract: Current design criteria and principles of earthquake engineering design are reviewed, including safety factors, probabilistic approach, and two-level and multi-level functional design ideas. The modern multi-functional idea is discussed in greater detail. When designing a structure, its resistance to and the intensity of the earthquake action are considered. The consequence of failure of the structure is considered only through a rough and empirical factor of importance, ranging usually from 1.0 to 1.5. This paper suggests a method of “consequence-based design,” which considers the consequences of malfunctioning instead of simply an importance factor. The main argument for this method is that damage to a structure located in different types of societies may have very different consequences, which are dependant on its value and usefulness to the society and the seismicity in the region.

Keywords: consequence-based design; performance-based design; displacement-based design; seismic design criteria

Copyright© 2009 IEM. Journal of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as described below, without written permission from the Publisher. Copying of articles is not permitted except for personal and internal use, to the extent permitted by national copyright law, or under the terms of a license issued by the National Reproduction Rights Organization of China.