Seminar Downloads and Recordings
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January 18, 2012
Next Generation Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering: ATC-58 Approach
Next generation performance-based earthquake engineering aims to quantify performance of facilities using metrics that are of immediate use to both engineers and stakeholders. The method quantifies the seismic risk for the facility in terms of financial loss, down time and casualties, and consistently accounts for the uncertainties in the seismic hazard, structural response, resulting damage, and repair costs. The outcome will allow the building owners to make an informed riskbased management decision, and allow structural engineers to design new and innovative structural systems more efficiently and cost effectively.
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Presenter: Tony Yang, PhD, UBC Department of Civil Engineering
December 5, 2011
EERI Distinguished Lecture: "Dynamics of Urban Earthquake Risk - A Vancouver Case Study"
This presentation explored the question of how urban seismic risk is changing over time. Are our cities becoming safer, due to advances in earthquake engineering? Or is risk growing as a result of societal factors such as population expansion and urban development?
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Presenter: Stephanie E. Chang, Professor, University of British Columbia
November 30, 2011
SECBC Seminar: An Introduction to Blast Resistant Design
Presented by Rainer Herzinger, Ph.D., P.Eng., Stantec Consulting Ltd.
The presentation introduced participants to the characteristics of a blast wave and its effect on building structures, discussed design approaches.
Seminar Handout (members only)
July 27, 2011
SEABC Taskforce on Guardrails - Design Practice and Construction Issues
For many years guards (guardrails) have had problems to achieve code compliance. Problems have typically ranged from lack of proper design to poor construction, and lack of coordination or understanding of responsibilities between the various design and construction professionals involved. Issues frequently exist with aluminum railings, glass guards, and connection of guardrail members to the supporting base building structure. This seminar outlined the issues identified by the SEABC Taskforce on Guardrails, and present practical and effective solutions for some of these issues.
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Presenter: Robert Jirava, P.Eng., Struct. Eng., RDJ Structural Designs Ltd.
May 31, 2011
Christchurch Earthquake and Lessons for BC
UBC Seismic expert Dr. Ken Elwood was in Christchurch New Zealand when the 6.3 earthquake rocked the city and led to 184 confirmed deaths and an estimated $20 billion (NZ) in damage. The presenters shared their observations from experiencing the earthquake first-hand and assisting with building assessments in the immediate aftermath, and presented important lessons for Vancouver and Canada.
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Presenter: Dr. Ken Elwood (UBC) & Mr. Patrick Ryan (City of Vancouver).
Acknowledgements
This seminar was presented by the UBC Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, and sponsored by SEABC.
April 20, 2011
Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) - Design Fundamentals, Considerations, and Applications
Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP), though commonly used in the aero-space, automotive and marine industries, is still a relatively new design material for many Structural Engineers. This presentation covered the fundamentals of design, applications for repair and retrofit, applicable codes and guidelines, current research and testing, FRP specific drawing specifications and construction considerations. The presentation will also include sample projects utilizing FRP in their design.
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Presenter: John Sherstobitoff, P.Eng., Ausenco Sandwell.
September 17 & 18, 2010
Short Course on Displacement-Based Seismic Design
This 1½ day short course introduced participants to displacement-based seismic design and demonstrated how it can be implemented in the design office as a simple and rational alternative to current prescriptive methods of seismic design. The course showed that serious conceptual problems with current force-based seismic design are resolved when the design is based on displacement considerations.
The course followed the book, Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Structures, by MJN Priestley, GM Calvi, and MJ Kowalsky (ISBN: 88-6198-000-6)
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Presenters:
Nigel Priestley, PhD, BE, Professor Emeritus of Structural Engineering University of California, San Diego, co-Director Emeritus of the European Graduate School for Earthquake Engineering in Italy, and Principal of the consulting firm Priestley Structural Engineering.
Mervyn Kowalsky, PhD, PE, Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University.
June 25 & 26, 2010
Two-Day Seminar on Soil-Structure Interaction
This seminar offered a guided tour through the various ways of accounting for soil-structure interaction (SSI) from analysis of the total soil-structure system to analysis of various approximate models of the system. The focus was on buildings and bridges, with both shallow and deep foundations. The seminar highlighted the benefits of including SSI analysis, from the perspective of improved understanding of actual system behaviour as well as improved efficiencies in structural designs that can be achieved.
When analysis of the total soil-structure system is carried out, the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) are implicitly included in the analysis and reflected in the results. However this type of analysis, while feasible, is rarely practical in practice because the structural analysis programs used by structural engineers cannot handle the nonlinear soil continuum directly. Modeling the effects of soil-structure interaction for practical design means developing reliable simple models that include the flexibility of the soil and foundation system; the dissipation of energy from the soil-structure system through radiation and hysteretic soil damping; and the modification of the ground motion transmitted to the structure by soil-structure interaction.
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Presenters:
Donald Anderson, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Upul Atukorala, PhD, PEng.
Principal
Golder Associates Ltd., Burnaby, BC
Craig Comartin, S.E.
President
CDComartin Inc., Stockton, California
Ron DeVall, Ph.D., P.Eng
Senior Consultant-Structural Engineering
Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd., Vancouver, BC
Liam Finn, Ph.D.,P.Eng.
Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Blair Gohl, PhD., P.Eng
Senior Associate
AMEC Earth and Environmental, Burnaby, BC
Bruce Hamersley, P.Eng.
Principal
Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd., Vancouver, BC
Ernest Naesgaard, P.Eng.
Principal
Naesgaard Geotechnical Ltd., Bowen Island, BC
John Sherstobitoff, P.Eng.
Manager, Structural
Ausenco Sandwell, Vancouver, BC
Anoosh Shamsabadi, Ph.D, P.E.
Senior Bridge Engineer
California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, California
Carlos Ventura, Ph.D., P.E., P.Eng.
Professor of Civil Engineering
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Adrian Wightman, M.Sc., P.Eng.
Principal Consultant
BGC Engineering Inc., Vancouver, BC
Acknowledgements:
This seminar was presented by SEABC and co-sponsored by UBC Department of Civil Engineering and The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Vancouver Section.
February 16, 2011
Sustainable Structures
Designing a sustainable structure is more than simply scoring high on a LEED or Living Building Challenge scorecard. It is about using common sense and doing the right thing. This presentation will look at how LEED influences the structural design of modern day buildings and offer recommendations on how the rating system could be improved to better respond to the realities of modern day design in British Columbia. The presentation will also show recent examples of local building structures to illustrate that sustainable structural design can be achieved with or without LEED.
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Presenter: Duane Palibroda P.Eng., Struct. Eng., LEED AP, Fast + Epp
November 29, 2010
Seminar: Rocking, Fusing, Self-Centering, and Multi-Hazard:
Some Research and some Questions
Strategies to achieve more resilient structural systems have included frame rocking, the use of structural fuses, and self-centering post-tensioned frames. An increased interest in multi-hazard strategies has also emerged in recent years. This presentation reviews selected recent research conducted at the University at Buffalo on those topics. This includes: (1) a general formulation for structural fuse systems, validate by shake-table testing of a 3-story steel frame having replaceable fuses; (2) A fuse concept for tall dual columns, verified experimentally using cyclic inelastic testing of a 30' tall specimen; (3) A structural braced-frame rocking strategy, verified using shake table testing of a 30' tall 4-legged braced tower; (4) A self-centering steel plate shear wall concept under development, and; (5) A composite concrete-filled steel tube concept for multi-hazard performance. For each of these systems, potential advantages are highlighted, along with some general challenges for that will be faced for their codification.
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Presenter
Dr. Michel Bruneau, Ph.D., P.Eng. (Professor, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University at Buffalo)
Acknowledgements
This seminar was hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia.
November 15, 2010
UBC Special Guest Seminar: Progress Engendered by Collapses of Record Setting Structures: Malpasset Dam, World Trade Center Towers and KB Bridge in Palau
When built, these were the tallest and slenderest arch dam, the tallest building, and the prestressed box girder of world-record span. The mechanisms of collapse of these structures are clarified. The size effect is shown to have been an important factor in the 1959 failure of the Malpasset Dam. Second, the disputed causes of the twin WTC towers collapse in New York on 9/11/01 are discussed. Third, the 1996 collapse of the Koror-Babeldaob prestress concrete box girder in Palau, with a 241 m span, is analyzed. Some other shear failures of RC structures in which the size effect was a likely a factor are briefly pointed out. The lessons from these regrettable catastrophes are bound to advance the structural engineering profession.
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Presenter
Dr. ZdenekP. Bazant, Ph.D., Northwestern University
Acknowledgements
This seminar was hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia.
October 25, 2010
Seminar: Changes in the Steel Standard S16-09
A new edition of S16 will come into effect with the upcoming building code revisions NBCC 2010 and BCBC 2011. The new steel standard is S16-09 and is contained in the recently released tenth edition of the CISC Handbook of Steel Construction along with the updated commentary to S16. The seminar will cover the significant changes and a clause-by-clause summary of the changes will be made available to attendees.
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Presenter
Andy Metten, P.Eng, Struct. Eng. (Partner: Bush, Bohlman & Partners)
Acknowledgements
This seminar was sponsored in part by the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction.
October 5, 2009
EERI Distinguished Lecture
The State of the Practice of Seismic Hazard Analysis: "From the Good to the Bad", by Dr. Norman A. Abrahamson, Senior Engineering Seismologist, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco
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Abstract
The presentation reviewed the state of the practice of seismic hazard analysis and development of design time histories. The practice of seismic hazard analysis varies tremendously from poor to very good. The large variability in practice is not simply a reflection of project budgets; a large variation exists for similar scale projects. Although the basic methodology for seismic hazard analysis has been well established, there remains widespread misunderstanding of the basic concepts that contribute to poor practice. Some of the most common misunderstandings and common aspects of bad practice will be described. The aspects of good practice that should be expected for low-end and high-end studies will be summarized.
For the development of design time histories, the state of the practice is more variable than for seismic hazard analysis. Key aspects such as how representative time histories are selected and how they are modified (by scaling or by spectral matching) vary tremendously based on the opinions of the project participants or reviewers. In most cases, these opinions are based comfortable level rather than objective technical criteria. Examples showing the large range of quality of current practice will be shown. The state of the practice for developing time histories will not improve until objective quantitative criteria are developed to judge the appropriateness of non-stationary aspects of the proposed time histories for the particular project.
Presenter
Dr. Abrahamson is a Senior Engineering Seismologist in the Geosciences Department at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco. He specializes in ground motion assessments and seismic hazard analysis of important engineered structures and systems, including dams, bridges, nuclear power plants, nuclear waste repositories, rail lines, electric substations, water and gas pipelines, hospitals and office buildings. His expertise includes the treatment of uncertainty, the use of numerical simulations of ground motion, and strong motion instrumentation. Dr. Abrahamson was named the 2009 Distinguished Lecturer by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
Acknowledgements
Dr. Abrahamson’s visit was made possible by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Distinguished Lecture Program.
March 19, 2008
Seminar
Lecture was joint sponsored by SEABC, the UBC EERI Student Chapter, and the
EERI Friedman Family Visiting Professional Program
Topic:
EERI Freidman Family Visiting Professional Lecture
Presenter: James Malley
Venue: Vancouver Public Library, Downtown, Alice McKay Room
Time: 7:00PM. Refreshments will be served.
January 23, 2008
Seminar
Changes to the ASCE 7 Standard
Presenter: John Hooper, Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Nov 14, 2007
VSEGS Presentation
RAV Canada Line
Presented by Meirec Preece (MMM Group)
Oct 24, 2007
VSEGS Presentation
Professional Negligence
Presented by Jeremy Lovell (Bull, Housser, & Tupper)
2005
DSE Presentation
CSA A23.3 2004 Highlight of Changes
Nov 22, 2004
CISC Dinner Meeting on Steel Deck Research and Design Application
Influence of Seismic Design Requirements and Building Period on the Design of Low-Rise Steel Buildings
Presented by R Tremblay and CA Rogers, Ecole Polytechnique
Recent Field Experience with Steel Deck Installations
Presented by Gerry Weiler, P.Eng.
June 7, 2001
SECBC Seminar: Developments in NBCC Part 4
National Bulding Code 2003
Presented by Russ Riffell, P. Eng. - Chair, Standing Committee on Structural Design,
Part 4 of the National Building Code of Canada
Proposed Revised Earthquake Design
Provisions from CANCEE
Presented by Ron DeVall, P.Eng.
Load Combinations for Strength and Stability
May 2000
SECBC Seminar Presentations
Developments in Construction Materials
Presented by Phil T. Seabrook, P. Eng. - Levelton Engineering Ltd.
Seismic Hazard Abatement Program
National Building Code: Improvements for 2003
Presented by Russ Riffell, P.Eng. - Levelton Engineering Ltd.
Chapter 23: Tilt-Up Wall Panels
2000
DSE Presentation
Sustainability in
Construction Use of Fly Ash as a Cement Replacement
Presented by P.T. Seabrook, P.Eng. and Kevin Campbell, P.Eng. - Levelton
Engineering Ltd.
1999
DSE Presentations
Connections Methods for Timber Engineering
Presented by Borg Madsen - Timber Engineering Ltd.
Dynamic Analysis with Emphasis on Wind and Earthquake Loads
Presented by Ed Wilson - Professor Emeritus of Structural Engineering University
of California, Berkeley
Seismic
Response of Low-rise Steel Frame Buildings
Presented by Carlos E. Ventura, P.Eng. and Mark Bakhtavar - Department of Civil
Engineering, University of British Columbia
Ductile
Fuses for HSS Seismic Bracing of Low-rise Buildings
Presented by Peter Timler - CISC/Sandwell and Helmut Prion - UBC
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