Basic Earthquake Engineering

Basic Earthquake Engineering

This book provides senior undergraduate students, master students and structural engineers who do not have a background in the field with core knowledge of structural earthquake engineering that will be invaluable in their professional lives. The basics of seismotectonics, including the causes, magnitude, and intensity of earthquakes, are first explained. Then the book introduces basic elements of seismic hazard analysis and presents the concept of a seismic hazard map for use in seismic design. Subsequent chapters cover key aspects of the response analysis of simple systems and building structures to earthquake ground motions, design spectrum, the adoption of seismic analysis procedures in seismic design codes, seismic design principles and seismic design of reinforced concrete structures. Helpful worked examples on seismic analysis of linear, nonlinear and base isolated buildings, earthquake-resistant design of frame and frame-shear wall systems are included, most of which can be solved using a hand calculator.

Basic Earthquake Engineering

Earthquake engineering or seismic engineering is the 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. Earthquake Engineering can be defined as the branch of engineering devoted to mitigating earthquake hazards. In this broad sense, earthquake engineering covers the investigation and solution of the problems created by damaging earthquakes, and consequently the work involved in the practical application of these solutions, i.e. in planning, designing, constructing and managing earthquake-resistant structures and facilities. The main objectives of earthquake engineering are to predict the potential consequences of strong earthquakes on urban areas and civil infrastructure. 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. This book emphasizes to students of structural and architectural engineering the problems and solutions in attaining efficient earthquake-resistant structures and facilities. To achieve this objective, after a brief discussion of the general goals in seismic-resistant design and construction of structures and facilities, the diverse sources of damage that can be triggered by an earthquake are discussed.

Basic Earthquake Engineering for Structural Engineers (videorecording)