La durabilidad de las estructuras prefabricadas de hormigón

Durability of precast concrete structures

Codes and standards have a classification of the seismic load level and response associated to an structure and its location. The response is associated to the acceptable damage limit state for the resisting structure as well as for the non-intentional structural elements. In general, the levels (earthquake - damage) are qualitatively defined although there is not a clear quantitative definition. The damage is defined after the level of loading is established. An objective design (DO) (a design with a variety of states) indicates the necessity of incorporating in the numeric stage new concepts such as energy and damage index, among others. In this work the nonlinear response of a built structured is analyzed based on the serviceability limit state (ELF - p = building life period) and the ultimate limit state (ELU - p = 500 years). An approximate methodology to defined the loading for each limit state is proposed and it is demonstrated that the code-designed building do not satisfies the necessary conditions for a good seismic design.