For more functional and structural safety – Seismic design of plant parts and components | Earthquake-resistant construction | Earthquake verification according to international standards

Approximately 25 percent of land surface is located in seismically active areas with a ground acceleration of more than 0.1 g, making them significantly vulnerable to earthquakes. Depending on the location, there are different requirements for a standard-compliant earthquake design of buildings, plants, machinery, components and infrastructure. The focus is, of course, primarily on the safety of employees and residents, but our solutions also aim to protect the investment and maintain operational capability. At Wölfel, we have been dealing with earthquake load cases worldwide for decades. We develop customer-specific solutions, conduct high-quality seminars and offer qualified service.

Earthquakes themselves generally pose much less immediate danger to people than many people think. Rather, the problem is buildings, machines, plants and infrastructures that are not (structurally) safe or lose their integrity or functionality, thus putting human lives at risk and leading to high costs. The good news: By applying and adhering to standards and guidelines, the risks are minimized to an acceptable level – both in the context of new construction and new design of plants and components, as well as during recalculation and retrofitting. The protection of persons or the safety of a plant can be additionally increased with a targeted integration of a monitoring system for the detection of earthquakes.  

European earthquake standards such as Eurocode 8 (DIN EN 1998-1) provide uniform and binding rules for calculation, design and construction throughout Europe. They are supplemented by numerous national specifications that take regional peculiarities into account, such as DIN 4149 in Germany. Internationally, for example, the International Building Code IBC and the associated ASCE/SEI 7 regulations as well as the IEEE 693 standard are frequently applied. In nuclear plant construction, the requirements are even higher; in Germany, the KTA applies, while IEEE 344, for example, is internationally significant. Of course, there are many other (inter)national standards that have to be applied in individual projects. If you would like to know which guidelines are relevant for your specific project, please feel free to contact our expert Marcus Ries.