Time: 2014/11/9 13:30-15:00

Venue: Civil Engineering B504

Chair: Prof. Xinlin Lu

Outline:

Increased urbanization has resulted in a spectacular increase in the number of tall and super-tall buildings world wide. Among the numerous criteria being considered in their design, especially in regions of high seismic activity, is the need to insure their safety under natural disasters. In the past, tall buildings were constructed considering seismic demands much smaller than required today, and greater emphasis is being placed on constructing tall buildings that are efficient, economical, sustainable and resilient. In this talk, design guidelines being developed for the design of new tall buildings are reviewed, example studies of evaluations of the safety and performance of existing tall buildings are presented, and approaches for improving the seismic resilience of new and existing tall buildings through the use of fluid viscous dampers and seismic isolation are provided.

 

About the Speaker:

Stephen Mahin is the Byron and Elvira Nishkian Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and is Director of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center. He received his BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. After working as a consultant for the seismic design of buildings, offshore platforms and nuclear power plant facilities, he joined the faculty at UC Berkeley. He has carried out research on a wide variety of topics related to the seismic behavior and design of building, bridge and infrastructure systems, and is internationally recognized for the integration of experimental, theoretical and computational research in developing guidelines for improving seismic safety and performance. He has more than 300 technical papers, and has supervised the research of more than 80 students. He has received several major awards, including the Huber Research Prize and Norman Medal from ASCE, and James Cooper Award from FHWA, and has served in leadership positions in several academic and professional organizations.

 

All interested are welcome!