Performance-Based Design for Structures Subject to Natural Hazard

Abstract

It is widely recognized that the most rational way of assessing and reducing the risks of engineered facilities and infrastructures subject to natural phenomena, both in the design of new facilities and in the rehabilitation or retrofitting of existing ones, is Performance-Based Design, usually indicated by the acronym PBD (but a better term would be “Performance-Based Engineering”). The basic concepts of PBD have been applied for almost 30 years in the nuclear power plant industry; later, PBD has been formalized and developed primarily in Seismic Engineering, and has been extended to other engineering fields, like Blast Engineering, Fire Engineering and Wind Engineering.
According to PBE, a modern approach to structural design should not be limited to optimize safety vs. costs, but consider as key objectives the whole range of “performances” in a probabilistic context and throughout the whole life-cycle of the structure. This mini-symposium will focus on novel applications and new developments of PBE; it will provide an overview of the state-of-the-art and will help to identify areas for further developments and applications.

Organizers

Marcello Ciampoli (marcello.ciampoli@uniroma1.it) and Francesco Petrini, Sapienza University of Rome