Optimal Aseismic Design of Building and Equipment

The structural model is typical of single or multistory buildings with floor, ceiling, or wall-supported equipment assemblies. Attention is especially focused on the random properties of the earthquake environment and structural response. The method is applied to the problem of protecting industrial equipment in the vicinity of an active fault. When compared to conventional earthquake design and deterministic methods of analysis, the advantages of this approach are: (1) The random properties of the ground motion are analyzed at all earthquake intensity levels; (2) the results reflect the location, protection level, and service life of the building; (3) earthquake damage cost, protection cost, and reliability are important design factors; and (4) cost-effective and optimal design configurations are disclosed.