Performance-Based Design for Petrochemical and Other Industrial Facilities

Performance-based design (PBD) has been proven to be a robust approach in the building industry that can help achieve a client’s desired target performance objectives during the design of structural systems, especially for areas prone to severe natural hazards. Implementation of PBD in the design of industrial structures is believed to be beneficial to industrial facility owners; and promotes sustainability and fit-for-purpose design. While PBD has been widely applied to design earthquake-resisting structural systems and has recently expanded to wind engineering, the concept has not been explored for the design of structures in petrochemical and other industrial facilities. Wey and Horton have adapted the PBD methodology from Seismic Rehabilitation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings and proposed to define the target performance levels of these types of structures based on various loading hazard levels. Still, many structures in petrochemical and other industrial facilities, in which the designs are governed by serviceability requirements, have been incorrectly designed at the code-required life safety load levels. This paper illustrates how PBD can be applied to those structures based on operational, maintenance, economic, environmental, and owner’s desired serviceability objectives using various examples. It impacts the structural engineering profession by providing clarity to the definition of performance level criteria for loading cases outside of the code required life safety levels for serviceability. Using these criteria, practitioners in this field can implement PBD to design structures more efficiently, save project costs, and use fewer natural resources.