From Ductility to Repairability - Evolution of Building Design in the Wake of the Christchurch Earthquake

Ken Elwood 

New Zealand and many other countries around the world adopted ductility-based design concepts in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  The adoption of these design concepts are likely the single most important advancement in our design philosophy in terms of protecting life safety in future earthquakes.  Ductility, however, cannot be achieved without damage to the structure and its contents.  Recent earthquakes have openly challenged the engineering community as to whether our focus on ductility has delivered what society intrinsically expects from its buildings during and after strong earthquakes. Recognizing that building design is best driven by observations from real earthquakes, we will use the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake as a case study to explore if it is time for another fundamental shift in our approach to building design; from ductility to repairability.