Structural Analysis and Design Principles of Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD)

Performance-based seismic design (PBSD) is a relatively new approach to design. Compared to the traditional code-based prescriptive seismic design method, PBSD provides the design team more flexibility to adjust the target structural performance of a building structure during an earthquake. It also provides the possibility to bypass certain code limits in some cases. This chapter discusses the basic PBSD concept, its advantages, and the main procedures of a PBSD. Details of the nonlinear response history analysis, the most commonly used method for PBSD under maximum considered earthquake, are discussed in details.