Earthquake engineering

Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An earthquake (or seismic) engineer aims to construct structures that will not be damaged in minor shaking and will avoid serious damage or collapse in a major earthquake. A properly engineered structure does not necessarily have to be extremely strong or expensive. It has to be properly designed to withstand the seismic effects while sustaining an acceptable level of damage. Earthquake engineering is a scientific field concerned with protecting society, the natural environment, and the man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to socio-economically acceptable levels. Traditionally, it has been narrowly defined as the study of the behavior of structures and geo-structures subject to seismic loading; it is considered as a subset of structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics, etc. However, the tremendous costs experienced in recent earthquakes have led to an expansion of its scope to encompass disciplines from the wider field of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and from the social sciences, especially sociology, political science, economics, and finance. The main objectives of earthquake engineering are: Foresee the potential consequences of strong earthquakes on urban areas and civil infrastructure. Design, construct and maintain structures to perform at earthquake exposure up to the expectations and in compliance with building codes. Seismic loading Seismic loading means application of an earthquake-generated excitation on a structure (or geo-structure). It happens at contact surfaces of a structure either with the ground, with adjacent structures, or with gravity waves from tsunami. The loading that is expected at a given location on the Earth's surface is estimated by engineering seismology.

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A Resilient Future: Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction

Learn how science and technology are helping reduce our risk of disasters.

The Role of the Composite Floor System and Framing Action in the Seismic Performance of Composite Steel Moment-Resisting Frames

Hammad El Jisr

With the advent of performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE), the need for reliable prediction of earthquake-induced collapse of structures is essential. Despite the significant progress that ha

EPFL2022

Research conducted after the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the U.S. and the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan led to the development of today's pre-qualified beam-to-column connections for capacity-design

EPFL2022

Motivated by the seismic response of unanchored liquid storage tanks, their uplift mechanism under strong lateral loading is examined. Using three-dimensional finite element models, nonlinear static a

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2021

CIVIL-714: Performance-based earthquake engineering

Quantitative decision making based on life-cycle considerations that incorporate direct losses, seismic risk assessment, and collapse. Seismic hazard analysis, response simulation, damage and loss est

CIVIL-522: Seismic engineering

This course deals with the main aspects of seismic design of buildings and bridges. It covers different structural design and evaluation philosophies for new and existing reinforced concrete and unrei

CIVIL-435: Advanced steel design

Advanced topics in seismic steel design; bolted and welded connections; steel moment resisting frames; steel frames with concentric & eccentric bracings; capacity design; buckling-restrained bracings;

Response spectrum

A response spectrum is a plot of the peak or steady-state response (displacement, velocity or acceleration) of a series of oscillators of varying natural frequency, that are forced into motion by the same base vibration or shock. The resulting plot can then be used to pick off the response of any linear system, given its natural frequency of oscillation. One such use is in assessing the peak response of buildings to earthquakes.

Seismic analysis

Seismic analysis is a subset of structural analysis and is the calculation of the response of a building (or nonbuilding) structure to earthquakes. It is part of the process of structural design, earthquake engineering or structural assessment and retrofit (see structural engineering) in regions where earthquakes are prevalent. As seen in the figure, a building has the potential to 'wave' back and forth during an earthquake (or even a severe wind storm). This is called the 'fundamental mode', and is the lowest frequency of building response.

Earthquake engineering

Seismic Assessment of Masonry Structures

Explores seismic assessment of masonry structures, focusing on out-of-plane failure of URM walls and its impact on earthquake-prone regions.

Seismic Design: Conventional vs. Capacity Design

Explores seismic design, comparing conventional and capacity design approaches for structures subjected to earthquakes.

Capacity Design of RC Walls

Covers the capacity design of reinforced concrete walls in 10 steps, emphasizing overstrength and ductility.