ABSTRACT
The use of nonlinear analysis to assess the seismic response of both existing as well as newly-designed buildings (or other types of framed structures) is becoming more and more recurrent, in recognition of the importance of capturing as faithfully as possible the actual dynamic response of these structures to earthquakes. Modern earthquake-resistance design codes now explicitly stipulate the need for seismic assessment of existing buildings to be undertaken through the employment of nonlinear analysis, a requirement that is emphasized even further in guidelines and regulations prescribed by the nuclear power industry and other energy sectors, where it is becoming mandatory for the safety of production plants and facilities against earthquakes and other dynamic actions to be assessed through the employment of advanced nonlinear structural modelling. In this chapter, we discuss how structural engineers now find themselves much better equipped to tackle such regulatory requirements, thanks both to an ever-augmenting computational power at our disposal, as well as to the advancements in the development of pr
