Recording and interpreting earthquake response of fullscale structures

Earthquake resistant design (or retrofit) of structures requires realistic and accurate physical and theoretical models. Validation and further improvement of these models can be done only by comparison with full-scale, in situ measurements of the response to earthquake excitation. This paper presents (a) a review of the principles this validation process is based on, (b) discussion of selected examples of past contributions to modeling of structures, and (c) an outline of some of the current research needs. It is concluded that, in the education of future engineers, the art of modeling full-scale structures, and breadth of knowledge in classical mechanics have been neglected, and that this trend should be reversed. 1