This paper introduces a simplified process for Performance-Based Design. Performance is defined by several performance objectives that place limits on three major loss categories: direct ($) loss, downtime loss, and life loss. The limits may be set at discrete hazard levels or for the life span of the building. The proposed design process incorporates different performance objectives upfront and helps engineers make decisions on: the choice of the structural system and its stiffness (period), base shear strength, and other important global structural parameters. The proposed design process provides engineers with a tool that is implemented in a semigraphical presentation, which makes it easy to apply and provides insight into the overall seismic performance and into trade-offs between different design alternatives. Special consideration is given to design for collapse safety and the physical causes of this phenomenon, which are structural components deterioration and P-Delta effects. The proposed process is illustrated in an example to demonstrate its practicality. It must be stressed that at this time much of the information needed to implement the proposed PBD procedure is still under development. Thus, the emphasis in this paper is on concepts, and the intent is to demonstrate that PBD could be made a simple process provided that supporting information is generated through additional research and development.
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