Design Decision Support for Steel Frame Buildings through an Earthquake-Induced Loss Assessment

In recent years, there is an increasing need to quantify earthquake-induced losses throughout the expected life of a building in order to evaluate alternative design options such that we can minimize repairs in the aftermath of an earthquake. This paper discusses an analytical study that quantifies the expected economic losses in a portfolio of archetype steel frame buildings designed with perimeter special moment frames or special concentrically braced frames in urban California in accordance with current seismic provisions in the U.S. The expected economic losses associated with repair are computed based on an established loss estimation framework within the context of performance-based earthquake engineering. It is shown that repair costs in the aftermath of earthquakes vary significantly depending on the employed lateral load-resisting system, seismic design considerations as well as the analytical model representation of the archetype frame building itself.