Eric L. Sammarco, Ph.D., P.E., M. ASCE, (esammarco@protection-consultants.com) is a PEC Principal and Project Engineer specializing in structural design and analysis to mitigate natural and man-made hazards.
Many chemical, pharmaceutical, laboratory and general industrial facilities have requirements for storage of chemicals, gasses, fuels, lubricants, and other hazardous materials used in everyday operations. When stored appropriately and not subject to puncture, spillage, and exposure to flame or other ignition sources, these materials are benign and safe. …
Over the past few decades, significant advances have been made in the areas of earthquake engineering and seismic design. A growing database of strong motion records, refined ground motion attenuation relationships, and probabilistic seismic hazard methodologies have led to an improved design basis for seismic events. …
Historically, equivalent static analysis procedures have been used to determine seismic design forces for conventional structures. In certain situations involving critical or highly complex structures, modal analysis procedures utilizing the elastic response spectrum concept have been employed. Both of these analysis procedures are computationally inexpensive yet they can be overly conservative. …