Date of Award

Spring 2010

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

Civil Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Ricardo A Medina

Abstract

This thesis focuses on quantifying demands for acceleration sensitive nonstructural components (NSCs) attached to inelastic shear wall structures. The proposed probabilistic method lends itself to performance based engineering (PBE), which can mitigate casualties, injuries, and property losses through the identification of performance target and the explicit quantification of seismic performance by taking into account the most important sources of uncertainty in seismic behavior prediction. These performance targets are quantified using component uniform hazard spectra (CUHS), which identify acceleration values that have constant mean return periods. This method is used to evaluate trends in CURS, and is compared to ASCE 7 design estimates of component seismic lateral forces. In addition, the results from this study demonstrate that ASCE 7 criteria (a) do not provide estimates of component demands with a constant reliability level, and (b) may not always provide conservative estimates of maximum lateral force demands for the design of acceleration-sensitive components in buildings.

Share

COinS