CPD - Seismic Engineering: Designing Earthquake-Resistant Structures

Plates of the Earth are moving at a slow pace. Often, this causes a reaction such as an earthquake. When it happens, this natural disaster causes many problems, especially for buildings and structures. They take damage or even get destroyed from this event. This is why professionals develop tools to prevent or reduce the harm through seismic engineering.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) detected and located around 200 to 300 earthquakes in the UK each year. Only 20 to 30 of them are being felt by people. Moreover, around 4 magnitude quakes in Britain happen roughly every two years, and 5 magnitude ones happen every 10-20 years. Scientists suggest that the largest seismic activity that can happen in the country is around 6.5 magnitude. This is why it is better to be prepared, because a 5.5 magnitude earthquake can already cause damage to buildings and other structures.

What is seismic engineering?

Seismic engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on designing structures like buildings or bridges that are resistant to earthquake damage. The key purpose is to create methods to prevent any damage when a small tremor happens and avoid serious damage or even collapse in a major one. One thing that you need to understand is not making the structures stronger, but “smarter”. This design allows the building to deform in a way that people want in an event.

Understanding how earthquakes occur is essential to designing earthquake-resistant structures. They happen when tectonic plates become stuck at their edges due to friction. When the plates finally shift, they release massive energy, which travels as waves through the Earth's crust and causes the ground to shake. Since earthquakes are unpredictable and unavoidable, this field of study plays a crucial role in reducing their impact on society and infrastructure.

Key structural elements in seismic engineering

In seismic engineering, they use specialised software to simulate and analyse the effect of the quake. After that, they review the results and decide if the method is working or not. They also use the help of architects, builders, structural designers, and any related fields. This process is important to ensure the design meets the building codes and standards. Some of the keys for a building to handle an earthquake are:

Energy dissipation

It is a process of transforming seismic shock power into some other form, like heat. A building will need a structure with this speciality to lower the impact of the event. The way it works is when the building faces a change of shape or strains, the energy dissipates to limit the earthquake force. 

Ductility

This means a structure design can go through changes beyond the yield point in a stable manner. A building that utilises seismic engineering can prevent the structure from failing or collapsing when earthquakes happen. However, a robust building doesn’t mean it can handle strong ones in a much better way. Especially if walls and columns are not properly designed and strengthened, they cannot support the weight they are built for. 

Diaphragm

It usually refers to the floor plate on each level of a building. A diaphragm can help channel lateral tremor and wind loads to vertical lateral forces. This feature will support the structure to resist frames and shear walls to transfer the loads down to the ground and foundations. This feature strengthens the safety of the structure.

Coupling beam

This is a way to connect two shear walls to form a coupled shear wall system. Its role is to change the earthquake energy through the formation of plastic hinges at the end of the coupling beams. This process will lower the forces that limit the effect on the building.

Course Summary

The CPD - Seismic Engineering: Designing Earthquake-Resistant Structures course helps learners understand how to lower the impact of earthquakes on an infrastructure. It involves knowing the key features that a structure needs to have to reduce the damage from the quake. From this training session, the participants will have a better understanding of this topic through study goals, such as:

1. Understanding earthquakes and their threats
2. Structural dynamics
3. The basics of seismic design
4. Analysis methods for ground-shifting
5. Building codes and standards
6. Retrofitting and resilience

Through this course, they will have the knowledge and skills to create a building that can handle natural disasters, such as an earthquake. A proper seismic engineering method will create a structure with an increase in longevity and durability. This enables the professionals to improve safety and life preservation while offering financial benefits in the long run.

Course Structure

The learners will study earthquakes and their characteristics throughout the training session. This course will help them understand how to make a structural plan with certain behaviour under dynamic loads through seismic engineering methods. They can also review the building for static and dynamic analysis. This course provides them with information on:

• Introduction to seismic engineering
• Behaviour of quakes
• Waves and ground motion
• Proper design and detailing of steel and concrete buildings
• Earthquake review of structures
• Evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings

At the end of the session, the participants are expected to become experts in this field with the new information they got from this course. They will also receive a certificate by the end of the course for the CPD hours they have earned.

Enrolment Criteria

The CPD - Seismic Engineering: Designing Earthquake-Resistant Structures course is suitable for anyone with a civil engineering background and a major in structural design. Moreover, professionals who are working as practising engineers, building code officials, architects, and developers are welcome to take this training. You are also expected to have a suitable grounding in mathematics when taking this course to ensure complete understanding.

Build smarter and stronger structures with CCM

People cannot predict when a natural disaster, including earthquakes, will occur. The only thing they can do is be prepared to minimise the damage when it occurs. Buildings are one of the things that are impacted by this event. This is why professionals are using seismic engineering to reduce the effects of the quake. It helps create structures that can handle the tremor without further damage to the infrastructure, which can put people’s lives at risk.

As mentioned, the key to creating a structure that can handle this occurrence is not making it stronger, but “smarter”. This means that the building can adapt to shock and transfer energy properly to reduce damage. You can achieve this type of building with an understanding of seismic engineering. Therefore, the College of Contract Management can help you to learn more about that.

The CPD - Seismic Engineering: Designing Earthquake-Resistant Structures course provides the necessary information to create a building that can handle such an event. You will learn about the basic understanding of earthquakes and their characteristics, proper design, and how to review the impact on your structure. This course will not only guide you to create a building that can handle shock but also improve your career opportunities by becoming an expert in this field. If you feel this training fits your needs, then grab it now!

At this moment, the CPD - Seismic Engineering: Designing Earthquake-Resistant Structures course is not ready yet. We are still waiting for the lecturer’s schedule and materials for this training. When it is ready, you can find the information on this course page. While waiting, there are plenty of amazing courses available on the CCM site for you to see and grab. If you need more information about the training, you can contact us via email.