N° 165. 1985. CEB Model Code for Seismic Design of Concrete Structures

When Professor Paolo E. Pinto (Rome), Chairman of the CEB General Task Group on Seismic Design, was kind enough to invite me to preface this volume, I recalled once again the significant Italian contributions to the realization of this long-term CEB project: the chairmanship, the calibration examples, and the financing of this publication. For all this, the CEB feels indebted to our Italian colleagues—although they may somehow be blamed for earthquakes still occurring around the world, attributed in legend to the giant Enceladus buried beneath Mount Etna in Sicily.

The synthesis of research results into practical documents being the vocation of the CEB, its activities could not be limited to normal situations alone. Design with respect to accidental actions (fire, impact, and earthquake) is also covered by more recent CEB initiatives. More specifically regarding seismic design, three preliminary editions of the present document (CEB Bulletins Nos. 133, 149, and 160) over the last five years demonstrate the continuous efforts of the CEB in this field, following the inspiring initiative of Professor Julio Ferry Borges in 1979.

This document has now reached maturity: it has been repeatedly reviewed, it has been shown to be operational through several worked examples, and to a large extent it is performance-oriented. Thus, the CEB General Assembly (Prague, 1983), after some final amendments, granted this document the status of a Model Code.

It is hoped that the CEB Seismic Model Code, the product of long international collaboration and which has also partly contributed to the drafting of Eurocode EC8, will further serve the professional community of structural engineering worldwide.

Prof. Theodosios P. Tassios
President, CEB