Structural design of hospitals in areas of high seismicity:projects in Chile and Nicaragua

摘要

Hospitals are critically important buildings in case of a seism, and are therefore subject to specificstructural criteria and requirements. The recent and simultaneous development of three hospitals inChile and Nicaragua represents an excellent opportunity to apply and to assess structural design ofthese especially critical buildings in areas of high seismicity.The paper presents several key aspects of the structural design of hospitals in high seismicity areas,considering both requirements and criteria related to hospitals vulnerability and seismic regulations,and the analysis undertaken and the structural performance of the different projects.The purpose is to identify the main design criteria and recommended structural configurationsrelated to the seismic performance of the structure in hospitals.