Performance of steel structures during the 1994 Northridge earthquake

The performance of concentrically braced steel frames and moment resisting steel frames during the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California, earthquake is examined. Most of the observations made during the reconnaissance visits confirmed the current knowledge on the inelastic response of these structural systems. This permits the anticipation of proper seismic behavior for buildings designed according to the seismic provisions that have been recently introduced in the Canadian building code and standard for steel structures. In some cases, however, the observed damage raised concerns that should be addressed in future investigations or next editions of these codes. Preventing potentially hazardous nonstructural damage, avoiding premature nonductile failures anywhere along the lateral load paths, limiting structural and nonstructural damage due to brace buckling, and accounting for the vertical ground motion are among those issues.