Seismic Design of Reinforced and Precast Concrete Buildings

ROBERT E. ENGLEKIRK

Preference :

This book is primarily about design, which, as I use the term, is the creative process
that seeks the proper blend of essential ingredients—specifically function, aesthetics,
economy, and, in the context of this book, seismic behavior. There exists no single
formula for creating a good design, for the design process involves making a set of
decisions on issues for which no absolutely right answer exists. Thus the designer is
continually seeking a comfortable rationally based design solution, and two identical
solutions are not likely to be produced even successively by the same constructive
designer.
Tools are essential to the completion of almost every task. I have tried to assemble,
in as concise a form as possible, the tools necessary to the pursuit of a good design.
From the extensive library of experimental efforts, I have selected representative
works and demonstrated how both strength and deformation limit states might be
predicted. Next, I review alternative design approaches and, in the process, simplify
and adapt them to specific types of bracing systems. Finally I describe how designs
might be comprehensively reviewed.
The focus of the book is concrete and the emphasis is on precast concrete. I
have limited the scope to the satisfaction of seismic behavior objectives because the
topic is complex and, though extensively studied and codified, not necessarily well
understood by the structural design profession. The fact that seismic design can be
reduced to an understandable level that can be creatively introduced into a building
program makes it an ideal vehicle to study the design process.
Concrete as a composite material provides a medium that encourages freedom.
The design of structures constructed using composite materials is not peculiar to the
materials selected for any combination of dissimilar materials must satisfy the same
basic fundamental laws and this is because equilibrium, compatibility, and adherence
to the appropriate stress-strain relationship must always be attained. Accordingly,
the choice of concrete as a vehicle should not be viewed as a constraint on the
applicability of the material contained herein.