New Seismic Design Provisions for One-Story Structures with Flexible Diaphragms and Rigid Vertical Elements
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Format: Online Live
Duration: 2.00
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$275.00
May 18, 2025; 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Pacific Time
John Lawson, P.E., S.E.
It has long been recognized that the seismic response of one-story tilt-up concrete wall buildings (and similar buildings with flexible diaphragms and rigid vertical elements) is controlled by the flexible diaphragm much more than the rigid vertical elements. Widely used seismic design provisions have not recognized or incorporated this behavior, however. Now, new seismic design provisions recently developed for ASCE 7-22 explicitly recognize this response behavior, drawing from extensive numerical studies published in the guideline document Seismic Design of Rigid Wall-Flexible Diaphragm Buildings: An Alternate Procedure (FEMA P-1026) and supplemental studies of bare steel deck diaphragms. In fact, the new design provisions go a step further to introduce a zone of reduced shear demand that improves seismic performance by allowing distributed yielding away from the diaphragm perimeter. This webinar will first present the concepts behind the new seismic design provisions, and the numerical studies addressed in FEMA P-1026 and supplemental bare steel deck diaphragm studies. A design example will then be presented, along with design and detailing tips and recommendations for practicing engineers.
Speaker Bio
John Lawson, S.E. is Professor in Architectural Engineering at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, and is a registered Civil and Structural Engineer with more than 25 years of design experience. His past design work includes over 100 million square feet of one-story rigid wall-flexible diaphragm buildings in high seismic zones. His research interests have been focused on this building inventory, and is a co-author of Seismic Design of Rigid Wall-Flexible Diaphragm Buildings: An Alternate Procedure (FEMA P-1026).
John Lawson, P.E., S.E.
It has long been recognized that the seismic response of one-story tilt-up concrete wall buildings (and similar buildings with flexible diaphragms and rigid vertical elements) is controlled by the flexible diaphragm much more than the rigid vertical elements. Widely used seismic design provisions have not recognized or incorporated this behavior, however. Now, new seismic design provisions recently developed for ASCE 7-22 explicitly recognize this response behavior, drawing from extensive numerical studies published in the guideline document Seismic Design of Rigid Wall-Flexible Diaphragm Buildings: An Alternate Procedure (FEMA P-1026) and supplemental studies of bare steel deck diaphragms. In fact, the new design provisions go a step further to introduce a zone of reduced shear demand that improves seismic performance by allowing distributed yielding away from the diaphragm perimeter. This webinar will first present the concepts behind the new seismic design provisions, and the numerical studies addressed in FEMA P-1026 and supplemental bare steel deck diaphragm studies. A design example will then be presented, along with design and detailing tips and recommendations for practicing engineers.
Speaker Bio
John Lawson, S.E. is Professor in Architectural Engineering at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, and is a registered Civil and Structural Engineer with more than 25 years of design experience. His past design work includes over 100 million square feet of one-story rigid wall-flexible diaphragm buildings in high seismic zones. His research interests have been focused on this building inventory, and is a co-author of Seismic Design of Rigid Wall-Flexible Diaphragm Buildings: An Alternate Procedure (FEMA P-1026).
John Lawson is a Full Professor in Architectural Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he teaches structural wood design. He is a licensed Structural Engineer in California and Arizona, and has over 25 years of consulting experience as a licensed Structural Engineer. He holds a Master of Science in Structural Engineering from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Lawson has received national awards in his building designs and his teaching methods.