Translating Research to Practice: FEMA/SAC Performance-Based Design Procedures

The extensive research on steel moment-frame performance developed by the FEMA/SAC program was implemented in a probabilistic reliability framework to develop performance-based design and evaluation procedures. These procedures, presented in a familiar demand and resistance factor engineering format provide engineers with the ability to define a level of confidence associated with the prediction that a building design will be able to meet a desired performance objective. This approach builds upon and extends the performance-based design procedures developed under the SEAOC Vision 2000 and FEMA 273 projects in two important ways. First, it provides a direct method for structural performance to be evaluated on the basis of global, as opposed to local behaviors. Second, it permits quantification of the likelihood that desired performance will actually be achieved, potentially alleviating liability concerns related to implementation of performance-based design approaches. Perhaps more important, the procedures implemented by the FEMA/SAC project provide a direct method for the incorporation of analytical and laboratory research into design procedures with defined reliability.