Basic Earthquake Engineering Book Recommendation? 10

[Carlo01]

Hello fellow engineers,

Wondering if anyone could recommend a very basic book about earthquake structural analysis and design. This is one area that I'd like to improve on as a structural engineer. Unfortunately, I don't have a masters degree because I cannot afford it so I'm looking for a book that's super elementary. As of now, I'm limited to designing Part 9 building structures which does not require earthquake analysis.

Thank you so much for anyone's help.

-Carlo G.
Structural P. Eng.

 

[KootK]

...so I'm looking for a book that's super elementary.

Bolt: Learn the basics of what earthquake motions are. Short and highly readable.

Charleson: highly readable and will teach you what you know to "talk the talk" as far as buildings go. These "for architects" books are great for high level stuff like that. This will allow you to understand the dominant issues and what the various parts of buildings are doing for us during a seismic event.

Ambrose: highly readable, will teach you what that various parts of building do in a seismic event, and gets into material specific design in an entry level way.

Chopra: a little less readable but, sooner or later, you'll have to get cozy with dynamics if you want to get cozy with seismic.

 

[Agent666]

While not books, there is a wealth of information on YouTube that will go over the basics to give you a good grounding and to help make more sense of and reinforce what you are reading if you have zero previous seismic experience.

Try this as a good basic course by Dirk Bondy - 11 parts varying 35 mins to 1.75 hrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfo6-SO27wo&list=PLXpvR5DF4MWa31oyZQEXZHInpRjR_gWdj

AISC also have a seismic design in steel fundamentals course (many concepts are not steel dependant) - 8 parts @ 1.5hrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFSH4qj637w&list=PLx7HczALbgqJub_tx0gpQnvkSz6u8mWto

The other thing to consider is hitting up previous classmates for course notes and so forth.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

It's a little dated now, but I am a huge fan of "The Seismic Design Handbook", edited by Farzad Naeim.

It's got all the basics about Earthquake Ground Motion, Dynamics and such. But, it has chapters on the concepts of Equivalent Lateral Force procedures, Response Spectra, Drift & Stability, Floor Diaphragms, Geotech considerations, Steel Detailing, Concrete Detailing, Wood and Masonry, NonStructural components, Base Isolation, Performance Based Design.

Anytime I want a review of the basics of one of these topics, I start with this book.

 

[skeletron]

These would be my picks for Canadian practice:

Elements of Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics by Filitraut, Tremblay, et al.

https://www.amazon.ca/Elements-Earthquake-Engineering-Structural-Dynamics/dp/2553016492

Textbook that really touches on everything. It summarizes the dynamics and focuses more on applications to design.


Design of Earthquake Resistant Structures, Edited by Rosenbleuth

https://dbwriting.net/2019/08/04/design-of-earthquake-resistant-structures/

Older book of essays that relate to the original conception of established earthquake practices. Some heavy hitters contributed essays, and the content really touches on the early aspects of earthquake code design that have led into current practice.

 

[milkshakelake]

I agree with JoshPlumSE's recommendation of "The Seismic Design Handbook." You can skip the first ~200 pages if you want. It doesn't reference modern codes but the concepts are the same.

 

[Deker]

The Seismic Design Handbook is good. For an elementary primer I like the Q&A approach taken by this free AISC publication (Link). It lays out the basic concepts concisely and touches on modern U.S. building codes and steel lateral systems. Once you have the basic concepts down you can go through the NEHRP tech briefs (Link) for material specific information. After that you can try working through some design examples (AISC Seismic Design Manual, SEAOC Seismic Design Manual, WoodWorks design examples, etc.). Don't forget to dig into the References sections of these publications, as well.

It can be easy at times to get lost in all the prescriptive seismic code requirements, but good seismic design boils down to three basic steps:

1. Select an appropriate seismic system.
2a. Design the fuse in your seismic system as close as possible to a DCR=1.0.
2b. Detail the fuse to withstand the amount of ductility that you expect of it.
3. Design the remaining members in the seismic load path for the capacity of the fuse.

A code-based design won't always follow these steps to the letter, but try to think about what each code provision is trying to accomplish behind the curtain and where it fits within those steps. If you do that and don't lose sight of the forest for the trees, you'll pick it up in no time.

 

[Carlo01]

Thank you so much for everyone's recommendation!!

 

[Tomfh]

Great reference/links, guys.