Prof. Lignos keynote lecture - First European Conference on Opensees

​Uncertainties associated with regional construction practices; the input loading and the dynamic response of structures impose the acceptance of a “tolerable” probability of structural collapse. This talk summarizes efforts to quantify with sufficient confidence the earthquake-induced collapse risk of steel frame buildings. State-of-the-art nonlinear deterioration models validated with carefully designed laboratory experiments are presented and utilized for this purpose. Implications associated with the building-specific loss assessment are also presented. Emphasis is placed in cases that steel frame buildings do not explicitly collapse but need to be demolished due to large residual deformations. The findings facilitate the decision-making process for stakeholders, engineers, and (re-) insurers to take proper pre-disaster measures to reduce the effects of seismic hazard for the best interest of our society. 

Prof. Lignos joined EPFL as a tenured Associate Professor in 2016 from McGill University. He holds a diploma from NTUA (2003), MSc (2004), PhD (2008), post-doc (2009) from Stanford University and a post-doc from Kyoto University (2010). His research involves integrated computational modeling and large-scale experimentation for the fundamental understanding and simulating structural collapse of steel structures under extreme loading as well as the development of metrics and technologies that promote resilient-based design. Prof. Lignos teaches courses in seismic design, nonlinear behavior and analysis of steel structures. He is the recipient of the 2013 ASCE State-of-the-Art in Civil Engineering Award and the 2014 Christophe Pierre Award for Research Excellence - Early Career. Professor Lignos acts as an Associate Editor for Metal Structures and Seismic Effects for the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering. He serves as an acting member in various national and international technical committees for the further development of the seismic design provisions and the nonlinear modeling guidelines for steel structures in North America, Asia and Europe.