Conceptos específicos del proyecto de estructuras en zonas sísmicas

Specific concepts in the seismic design of structures

The basic and application concepts of structural design in seismic areas are explained in this paper; these concepts are the consequence of the experience which has been gained from recent earthquakes and of the changes in national and international codes. The fundamental theoretical concepts are presented first: ductility (referred to materials, cross sections and full structures) and capacity design (methodology to study the non linear behaviour of the structure during the earthquake) or its more modern version called performance based design; all these concepts are related to the non linear behaviour of materials. Finally the application concepts which have to be taken into account for building structures design are reviewed.