ABSTRACT
Structures are u s u a l l y des igned so that some of the energy i n p u t d u r i n g a severe ear thquake is diss ipated t h r o u g h inelastic d e f o r m a t i o n s . I n o r d e r to p r e v e n t collapse, the m a g n i t u d e of these plastic d e f o r m a t i o n s has to be l i m i t e d to values w h i c h are c o m p a t i b l e w i t h the available loca l a n d g l o b a l d u c t i l i t y a n d w i t h the energy d i s s i p a t i o n capacity of the s t ructure .
