ABSTRACT
A seismic design approach is presented where the design procedure attempts to create structures with equal probabilities of achieving a specified limit state under a specified level of seismic intensity. The limit state may be directly defined by limiting displacement, or more commonly, by converting strain limit states, which appear to be the best indicators of damage potential, to displacement limits. The procedure uses displacement response spectra, effective stiffness at maximum response and equivalent viscous damping which includes elastic and hysteretic damping to determine families of structures whose initial strength and stiffness characteristics will ensure that the desired limit state is, as closely as possible, achieved. The result could be termed ”uniform risk seismic structural design,” and appears to most closely reflect the philosophy inherent in uniform risk design spectra commonly utilized for design.
