The NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture is pleased to announce the availability of Technical Brief No. 2, Seismic Design of Steel Special Moment Frames: A Guide for Practicing Engineers, NIST GCR 09-917-3 [more]

Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST has begun building an earthquake engineering research program aimed at narrowing the gap between earthquake engineering knowledge and practice . In its first intramural project, NIST is developing an online database of findings generated over the years by NEHRP-funded research projects. This tool will help NIST and others access and apply the valuable knowledge that has been created through NEHRP, especially the results from basic research conducted in hundreds of projects supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

NIST has initiated several extramural projects through the NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture, a partnership between the Applied Technology Council and the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering. In one project, researchers are testing an improved method of quantifying the seismic performance of structural systems, a method developed for use with model building codes. Another project is responding to the need for seismic design guidance for the Nation's vital container-shipping ports. This team will carry out applied research to translate basic research results generated by an NSF-supported study into design prestandards for engineers and building-code developers.

For more on NIST's research role in NEHRP, see the June 2009 Seismic Waves article on the NEHRP website - http://www.nehrp.gov/pdf/SeismicWavesJun09.pdf