ABSTRACT
Seismic des ign is u s u a l l y based u p o n the a b i l i t y of s tructures to sustain plast ic d e f o r m a t i o n s so that earthquake i n p u t energy is d iss ipated t h r o u g h hysteret ic b e h a v i o u r of the mater ia l . I n any case, the damage d u e to plast ic d e f o r m a t i o n s has to be l i m i t e d i n order to p r e v e n t collapse.
