Guest Speaker: Chris Poland
"Need
For Better Analysis Tools and Evaluation Procedures"
March
30, 2000
Engineers traditionally have used linear static or dynamic procedures to predict earthquake performance as a basis of their designs. Recently, non-linear analysis procedures such as the push-over procedure have been incorporated. A recent experience in the Taiwan Earthquake indicates that we need to consider a full robustness of earthquake ground shaking in design. Considerations of acceleration, velocity, and displacement are not sufficient to describe building vulnerablitities. There is a need to consider the pulse characteristics of the ground shaking.
"Achieving
Acceptable Risk in Seismic Designs"
March
31, 2000
Performance
based engineering
is giving us the tools necessary to design for a range of performance objectives.
These are made up of various performance levels and hazard characterizations.
Deciding what is acceptable is the next
major challenge. It turns out that the decision makers are the owner, the
building official, and the structural engineer working together to achieve
the owner's interests.