1981 Volume 19 Issue 12 Pages 13-21
Being an earthquake country like Japan, New Zealand has a particular seismic design method for concrete buildings, called the capacity design method, in which the mode of failure mechanism and location of yield hinges are first assumed. Hinge sections are designed for elastic moment under the design seismic loading, and other portions of the structure are designed for the ultimate strength of yield hinges. In this article the basic principles of the capacity design method, design seismic loading in the loadings code, ultimate lateral capacity of an actual frame building are reviewed, and some scenes at constuction sites are introduced.
