The Christchurch earthquakes sequence in 2010-2011 has critically highlighted the mismatch between societal expectations over the reality of seismic performance of modern buildings.
By and large, and with some unfortunate exceptions, reinforced concrete buildings performed as well as, if not better, than expected considering the intensity of the seismic shaking they were subjected to. Modern buildings, designed according to capacity design principles used ductile mechanisms to allow buildings to stand and people to evacuate. Nevertheless, in many cases, these RC buildings were deemed too expensive to be repaired and consequently demolished. Targeting life-safety is clearly not enough in modern society and a paradigm shift towards damage-control design is required.
This half-day seminar will discuss motivations, issues and cost-effective engineering solutions to design reinforced concrete buildings capable of sustaining low-levels of damage and thus limited business interruption after a moderate to severe event.
The presentations, based on real New Zealand applications and extensive research and development of such building technologies, will cover conceptual design and detailing, including constructability and architectural aspects. The material covered will provide essential practical information around the appropriate design and consenting of these structures.
SEMINAR DATES
- Christchurch; Wednesday 20 June 2012
- Wellington; Thursday 21 June 2012
- Auckland; Thursday 28 June 2012