Guidelines For Probabilistic Performance Based Seismic Design And Assessment Of Slope Engineering

This book provides a new design and evaluation framework based on slope Stochastic Dynamics theory to probabilistic seismic performance for slope engineering. For the seismic dynamic stability safety of slope, it shifts from deterministic seismic dynamic analysis to quantitative analysis based on nonlinear stochastic dynamics, that is, from qualitative to the description of stochasticity of earthquake excitation that meet the needs in related design specification and establish a performance standard. In the nonlinear dynamic time history analysis of slope subjected to seismic ground motion, the term “randomness” is used to express the uncertainty in the intensity and frequency of earthquake excitation for slope engineering dynamic seismic performance. It mainly includes seismic design fortification standard, corresponding ground motion excitation, performance index threshold, and slope deterministic nonlinear seismic dynamic response. Even more than that, the seismic dynamic large deformation approaches of the whole process and comprehensive analysis for flow analysis after slope instability failure. Eventually, the probabilistic seismic dynamic performance of the slope engineering will be characterized by nonlinear dynamic reliability.

In the last ten to fifteen years a vast amount of research has been undertaken to improve on earlier methods for analysing the seismic reliability of structures. These efforts focused on identifying aspects of prominent relevance and disregarding the inessential ones, with the goal of producing methods that are both more efficient and easier to use in practice. Today this goal can be said to be substantially achieved. During these years scientific activity covered all of the many aspects involved in such a multi-disciplinary problem, ranging from seismology, to geotechnics, to structural analysis and economy, all of them to be consistently organised into a probabilistic framework. As the output of this research was dispersed into a multitude of technical papers, fib Commission 7 thought it worthwhile to select the essential aspects of this large body of knowledge and to present them into a coherent and accessible document for structural engineers. To this end a task group of specialists was formed, whose qualifications come from their personal involvement in the above-mentioned developments throughout this period of time. From its inception the group decided that the bulletin should have had a distinct educational character and provide a clear overview of the methods available. The outcome is a compact volume that starts by introducing the concepts and definitions of performance-based engineering, continues with two chapters on assessment and design, respectively, presenting the methods in detail accompanied by illustrative examples, and concludes with an appendix with sample programming excerpts for their implementation. It is believed that at present fib Bulletin 68 represents a unique compendium on probabilistic performance-based seismic design.

Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) is a structural design methodology that has become more common in urban centers around the world, particularly for the design of high-rise buildings. The primary benefit of PBSD is that it substantiates exceptions to prescribed code requirements, such as height limits applied to specific structural systems, and allows project teams to demonstrate higher performance levels for structures during a seismic event.However, the methodology also involves significantly more effort in the analysis and design stages, with verification of building performance required at multiple seismic demand levels using Nonlinear Response History Analysis (NRHA). The design process also requires substantial knowledge of overall building performance and analytical modeling, in order to proportion and detail structural systems to meet specific performance objectives.This CTBUH Technical Guide provides structural engineers, developers, and contractors with a general understanding of the PBSD process by presenting case studies that demonstrate the issues commonly encountered when using the methodology, along with their corresponding solutions. The guide also provides references to the latest industry guidelines, as applied in the western United States, with the goal of disseminating these methods to an international audience for the advancement and expansion of PBSD principles worldwide.

This book provides a new framework for analysis of slope nonlinear stochastic seismic dynamic response based on the new theoretical tool of stochastic dynamics. The coupling effects of uncertainty of geological parameters, strong dynamic nonlinearity, and randomness of ground motion are considered in the process of the seismic dynamic stability assessment of slope. In this book, an intensity frequency non-stationary stochastic ground motion model based on time-domain stochastic process description is preliminarily established to characterize the randomness of earthquakes. The spatial distribution random field model of geotechnical parameters is established to describe the time-space variability of geotechnical parameters. Based on the basic theory of stochastic dynamics, the seismic stability performance evaluation method of slope is established. The slope seismic dynamic model test based on large complex shaking table is performed to verify and modify the proposed framework and method. This book sheds new light on the development of nonlinear seismic stochastic dynamics and seismic design of slope engineering.

Throughout the past few years, there has been extensive research done on structural design in terms of optimization methods or problem formulation. But, much of this attention has been on the linear elastic structural behavior, under static loading condition. Such a focus has left researchers scratching their heads as it has led to vulnerable structural configurations. What researchers have left out of the equation is the element of seismic loading. It is essential for researchers to take this into account in order to develop earthquake resistant real-world structures. Structural Seismic Design Optimization and Earthquake Engineering: Formulations and Applications focuses on the research around earthquake engineering, in particular, the field of implementation of optimization algorithms in earthquake engineering problems. Topics discussed within this book include, but are not limited to, simulation issues for the accurate prediction of the seismic response of structures, design optimization procedures, soft computing applications, and other important advancements in seismic analysis and design where optimization algorithms can be implemented. Readers will discover that this book provides relevant theoretical frameworks in order to enhance their learning on earthquake engineering as it deals with the latest research findings and their practical implementations, as well as new formulations and solutions.

These proceedings, arising from an international workshop, present research results and ideas on issues of importance to seismic risk reduction and the development of future seismic codes.

Seismic design and evaluation criteria are based on probabilistic performance goals for Department of Energy (DOE) facilities across the United States. These criteria, utilize probabilistic seismic hazard curves for specification of earthquake loading combined with deterministic response evaluation methods and permissible behavior limits. Through the use of such a design/evaluation approach, it may be demonstrated that there is high likelihood that probabilistic performance goals can be achieved. These criteria have been described in previous technical papers. The purpose of this paper is to present proposed modifications to DOE seismic design and evaluation criteria. These modifications account for various slopes of seismic hazard curves, make corrections to earlier versions, and take advantage of an improved quantitative basis for the acceptance criteria.