Computer-aided design of civil building structural connections constructed in earthquake-prone regions

More than 300000 earthquakes occur worldwide every year. The main goal of the earthquake-resistant design of buildings and structures in earthquake-dangerous regions is to assure the safety of people and the security of material assets. Significant damage or even complete collapse of buildings are not uncommon because of the inadequate strength of their structural framing elements and connections. The modern approach in the theory of seismic design is in the avoidance of using brittle materials in construction, as well as in regarding as acceptable a local damage that does not lead to the collapse of the entire structure. Often when designing a reinforced concrete building, an engineer is mainly concerned with a strength of a structure, while not paying enough attention to its ductility and ability to absorb the energy. Construction of buildings and their connections based on the structural composite steel fiber concrete in earthquake-dangerous regions is very promising due to the superior ability of this material to resist to static and dynamic loading, which could be controlled by an engineer. (paper)