Special Issue "Earthquake Resistant Buildings"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Ali M. Memari
Department of Architectural Engineering, Penn State University, 104 Engineering Unit A, University Park, PA 16802-1416, USA
Website: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/a/m/amm7/
E-Mail: memari@engr.psu.edu
Phone: +1 814 865 3367
Fax: +1 814 863 4879
Interests: structural analysis; reinforced concrete design; masonry design; earthquake resistant design of buildings

Dear Colleagues,

Comparison of the number of casualties caused by failure of building parts or entire building collapse in earthquakes that have occurred in many developing countries with that in industrial countries, in particular the ones that seriously practice seismic design provisions and codes, shows the results of proper earthquake resistant design and retrofit of buildings. The significantly lower number in the latter indicates that it is not the earthquake that kills people, it is how we design and construct buildings. The development and advancement of earthquake design provisions in modern building codes is therefore a success story. Today, it is established that if buildings are designed according to the modern seismic codes incorporating sound structural lateral force resisting systems and constructed using good quality materials, workmanship, and inspection, the chance of building collapse is minimized, although damage to structural systems and nonstructural (e.g., architectural) components cannot be entirely prevented.

Many types of nonstructural components are actually manufactured products that are mainly specified by architects and that are not necessarily recognized by building codes. Acceptable seismic performance of such components is generally established through component mockup testing. Past damaging earthquakes have in particular revealed the vulnerability of architectural components (e.g., building envelope) to significant damage with potential life-safety hazard. This emphasizes the need for appropriate testing (e.g., racking) of such products/systems to ensure satisfactory performance under building design acceleration or drift.

For this special issue of the Buildings Journal, authors are invited to submit papers related to the general theme of the Special Issue for all types of buildings. Among relevant topics, submission of papers discussing earthquake analysis and design methods and guidelines, experimental testing of structural and nonstructural building components, and retrofit techniques is highly encouraged. In addition, it is of interest to invite contributions that address innovative structural and nonstructural systems with minimal seismic damage potential, as well as earthquake resistant structural systems appropriate for residential construction.

Prof. Dr. Ali M. Memari
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• seismic code
• earthquake resistant design
• racking test
• seismic retrofit
• nonstructural components
• building envelope
• glazing system
• masonry walls
• cladding panels
• curtain walls
• pushover analysis
• collapse prevention