Intersecting traditions in the seismic design of reinforced concrete buildings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5459/bnzsee.1778Abstract
This short manuscript describes how three different schools of thought, combining observation, pragmatism, physics, and judgment, have arrived at strikingly similar approaches to proportion RC building structures that can sustain intense earthquake demands without incurring excessive structural and non-structural damage. The examined traditions, which can be traced back to Japan, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Chile, were shaped by independent calibration processes. Yet they all share a common idea: structural robustness is crucial to reduce building earthquake damage. The success of this simple idea has been demonstrated repeatedly in the field. For that reason, New Zealand engineering students, at the very least, should be made aware of these practices, especially considering that the local tradition is radically different.
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