Event | Infrastructure Safety In The Era Of Probability Webinar

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Session Overview

The seismic code is not a complete map. Some clauses are proven, while others rest on untested assumptions and have rarely faced the earthquake itself. This is especially true for industrial facilities, where process and mechanical requirements take the lead and seismic loading often becomes an afterthought.

This session walks through the parts of the code where engineers have the least experience, covering storage racks, silos and tanks, pipelines, and non-structural components. You will see where the seismic code makes assumptions, where those assumptions can fail, and what you need to watch for to deliver a safe design when the code offers little guidance.

Who Should Attend

- Practicing structural engineers who regularly make code-based design decisions and want to sharpen their judgment where the rules turn ambiguous.

- Professionals responsible for high-stakes or critical projects, where an untested assumption can carry serious consequences.

- Engineers following the direction of modern design standards and curious how performance-based thinking is reshaping practice.

Learning Objectives

📌Limits of the Seismic Code

Understand where modern seismic codes fall short for industrial structures and why these clauses remain less tested than those for conventional buildings.

📌Interpreting Uncertain Code Provisions

Learn how to apply simplified or contradictory clauses correctly when the code offers little guidance and experts disagree.

📌Behavior of Racks, Silos, Tanks, and Pipelines

See how major codes treat these structures and where their underlying assumptions can break down under real seismic demand.

Speaker

Dimitrios Vamvatsikos

A Professor at the National Technical University of Athens

Dr. Vamvatsikos is working on the performance and risk assessment of structures subject to natural and man-made hazards. He has co-operated with leading structural engineering firms, the oil industry, catastrophe risk modelers, and the insurance/reinsurance industry, and has co-authored guidelines for the Applied Technology Council, FEMA, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Global Earthquake Model Foundation.