Advanced Earthquake Resistant Design Techniques
The conventional approach to earthquake resistant design of buildings depends upon providing the building with strength, stiffness and inelastic deformation capacity which are great enough to withstand a given level of earthquake–generated force. This is generally accomplished through the selection of an appropriate structural configuration and the careful detailing of structural members, such as beams and columns, and the connections between them. In contrast, we can say that the basic approach underlying more advanced techniques for earthquake resistance is not to strengthen the building, but to reduce the earthquake–generated forces acting upon it. Among the most important advanced techniques of earthquake resistant design and construction are base isolation and energy dissipation devices. Base Isolation It is easiest to see this principle at work by referring directly to the most widely used of these advanced techniques, which is known as base isolation. A base isolat