PRAVEEN K.

MALHOTRA
Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Structural/Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering), Rice University, Houston, TX
M.Eng., Structural Engineering and Construction, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
B.Tech., Civil Engineering (Structural Analysis and Design), Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi,
India
REGISTRATION
Registered Civil Engineer (P.E.) in California (No. 52546)
PATENTS
Method of Protecting Liquid Storage Tanks from Seismic Shocks and an Anchor Especially Adapted for
the Same (US Patent No. 6,085,472)
Method of Testing Seismic Braces (US Patent No. 7,131,238)
EXPERTISE
Seismic risk assessment of industrial,
commercial and residential structures

Recommendations for mitigation, transfer

(insurance) or diversification of earthquake risk

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis

In-structure response spectrum

Risk-based seismic design & evaluation

Site-specific ground motion histories

Nonlinear dynamic analysis

Seismic monitoring of structures

Ground motion prediction relations

Analysis of strong-motion data

Site-specific and aggregate assessment of

hazard and risk

Seismic design & evaluation of tanks

Soil-structure interaction

Design of wind tunnel tests on buildings and

components

Liquefaction/slope-stability analysis

Analysis of wind tunnel test data

Site-specific response spectrum

Protocols for 1-, 2- and 3-D shake table tests

Fluid-structure interaction

Cyclic load tests

RECENT PROJECTS
Risk-Based Seismic Retrofit of Tanks and Storage Racks. Currently engaged in a seismic risk-based
retrofit design of diesel tanks and storage racks for an industrial property.
Shake Table Testing of Equipment. Developed risk-based criteria for evaluation of equipment through
shake table testing.

Site-Specific Ground Motion Histories for Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Generated
three-dimensional ground motion histories for dynamic analysis of ~150-story tall
Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Risk-Based Seismic Retrofit of Industrial Property. Currently working with a large manufacturing
client to select risk-based seismic retrofit criteria for buildings, pipe racks, and storage
tanks.
Risk Evaluation of an LPG Facility. Currently discussing a project involving seismic risk assessment of
a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) facility involving two 13 million gallon LPG tanks and
several bullet tanks for butane storage.
Microzonation of a Large Industrial Site. Divided a large industrial site into 4 zones based on
differences in soil characteristics. Generated site-specific response spectra and tr-axial
ground motion histories for each soil profile.
Worldwide Earthquake Risk Maps. Led investigations involving various vendors to develop
earthquake risk maps of the following regions: USA, Canada, Australia, South America,
Central America, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South, Central and
North Asia and Japan. These maps are used to underwrite and engineer earthquake risk
worldwide.
Performance-Based Seismic Design of a Fire-Water Tank. Performed nonlinear seismic analysis of a
fire-water storage tank in Haifa refinery in Israel. Carried out the design to meet specific
performance objective for 475-year mean return period ground shaking.
Peer-Review of Tank Seismic Risk Assessment. Currently reviewing seismic risk calculations for
several water and diesel storage tanks at a pharmaceutical facility in Puerto Rico.
Peer-Review of Seismic Design Calculations for a Sprinkler-Water Storage Tank. Performed peerreview of seismic design calculations for tank and foundation. Made recommendations to
meet minimum code requirements and specified performance objectives.
Site-Specific Response Spectra of Horizontal and Vertical Motions. A large industrial facility in
Puerto Rico was divided into 4 soil profiles. Site-specific response spectra of horizontal
and vertical motions were generated from dynamic analyses of soil profiles.
Dynamic Site Response Analysis for a Bridge in Santa Cruz, California. Performed probabilistic
hazard analysis and dynamic site response analysis for a Caltrans bridge in California.
Seismic Risk Assessment of Industrial and Commercial Properties. Consulted for a large property
insurance company for 12 years. Clients included Fortune 500 companies worldwide.
Primary responsibilities included assessment and mitigation of seismic risk to industrial
and commercial properties insured by the company throughout the world.
Seismic Risk Assessment of a Large Property in Santa Ana, CA. Performed seismic risk assessment of
a large property in California. The assessment involved: (1) seismic hazard calculation;
(2) nonlinear pushover analysis; and (3) probabilistic loss estimation. Advice for
mitigation and/or transfer of earthquake risk was made on the basis of the results of risk
assessment study.

Site Response Analysis for a Terminal Building in Anaheim, CA. Performed site-specific seismic
hazard analysis and site-response analysis to establish 2-dimensional ground motion
histories for the design of a complex structure in Anaheim, CA.
Field Investigations after Damaging Earthquakes. Participated in field investigations after the 1992
Cape Mendocino Earthquake, 1992 Landers Earthquake, 1994 Northridge Earthquake,
and 2004 Bhuj, India Earthquake.
Catastrophe Bond. Designed a parametric Catastrophe Bond for protection against Pacific Northwest
Earthquakes. Established fair price for the bond.
Nonlinear Seismic Analysis of Steel Tanks in France, Germany and Switzerland. Performed seismic
pushover analysis for evaluation and design of several oil storage tanks in Europe.
Wind Tunnel Testing. Originated wind tunnel tests and led a $200,000 project resulting in building roof,
rooftop equipment and rooftop solar panel evaluations.
Earthquake Shake Table Design. Designed FM Global shake table and foundation valued more than
$2M. Originated the acceptance/commissioning criteria for shake table. The intended use
of the table is for seismic approval and research testing.
Seismic Design Standards. Developed FM Standard 4020/4021 for seismic approval of suction tanks.
Established a state-of-the-art standard to approve suction tanks erected in seismic zones
throughout the world. Developed FM Standard 1950 for testing seismic braces for
sprinkler pipes, a state-of-the-art standard and first consideration on the effect of cyclic
loading in seismic approval of braces. A US patent was granted for the protocol.
Seismic Design of Wood Tank for US Navy in Maine. Performed advanced seismic analysis for the
design of a wood tank in the US Navy facility in Maine.
Design of Steel and Concrete Structures for Power Plants. Performed design of numerous steel and
concrete structures for thermal power plants throughout India.
Seismic Monitoring of Structures. Planned and installed seismic sensors in buildings, bridges and dams
to monitor response during earthquakes. Analyzed the measured response following
earthquakes.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
1998-present

ASCE Instructor for Earthquake Induced Ground Motions

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), site-specific ground motions, dynamic
response of soil deposits, soil-structure interaction (SSI)

2006-present

ASCE Instructor for Seismic Design of Liquid Storage Tanks

Mechanical model of tank-liquid system, site-specific response spectrum, dynamic response
analysis, nonlinear pushover analysis of tanks

2010-present

ASCE Instructor for Risk-Based Seismic Design and Evaluation

Evaluation of seismic risk. Risk-based decision making: risk-transfer, risk mitigation,
deductible and limits. Seismic design to achieve a specified risk objective.

2005-present

Chair of seismic task group of ACI 376 Committee on Concrete Structures for the
Containment of Refrigerated Liquefied Gases (LNG) and Commentary

2008-present

Chair of ASCE 25 Committee on Earthquake Actuated Gas Shutoff Devices

2006-2010

Corresponding Member of ASCE 7 Seismology Committee

2008-2010

Member of NEES Nonstructural Practice Committee.

Memberships

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

(EERI), Seismological Society of America (SSA), Indian Society of Earthquake
Technology (ISET), and American Concrete Institute (ACI)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Malhotra, P.K. (2011). Response Spectra for Probabilistic Analysis of Nonlinear Systems. Journal of
Structural Engineering, ASCE, November.
Malhotra, P.K. (2011). Risk-based Design of Transmission Lines for Hurricane Winds. Structural
Safety Journal, Submitted for Publication.
Malhotra, P.K. (2011). Missing the Big Picture in Mitigating Natural Hazards. J. Struct. Eng.
International, IABSE, Accepted for publication.
Malhotra, P.K. (2011). Energy-Dissipating Anchors for Reducing Seismic Loads on Tank &
Foundation. 13th Annual International Aboveground Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show,
National Institute for Storage Tank Management (NISTM), Orlando, FL, March 1-3, 2011.
Malhotra, P.K. (2011). Aggregate Seismic Hazard Analysis of California --- Some Preliminary Results.
Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting, Memphis, TN, April 2011.
Malhotra, P.K. (2010). Uncertainty in Seismic Risk Assessment. Eastern Section of Seismological
Society of America Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, October 2010.
Malhotra, P.K. (2008). Seismic Design Loads from Site-Specific and Aggregate Hazard Analyses.
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 98(4), 18491862, August 2008.
Malhotra, P.K. (2007). Seismic Hazard Analysis for Building Codes. Opinion Paper, Seismological
Research Letters, 78(4), July/August.
Malhotra, P.K. (2007). Evaluation of ASCE 25 Criteria for Seismic Gas Shutoff Valves. Report No.
0003025929, FM Global, Norwood, MA.
Malhotra, P.K. (2006). Analysis of Wind Tunnel Test Data from Roof Corner of Low Building. Report
No. 0003005542, FM Global, Norwood, MA.
Malhotra, P.K. (2006). Earthquake Induced Sloshing in Cone and Dome Roof Tanks with Insufficient
Freeboard. J. Struct. Eng. International, IABSE, 16(3), 222-225, August.
Malhotra, P.K. (2006). Seismic Risk and Design Loads. Earthquake Spectra, 22(1), 115-128.

Malhotra, P.K., Jacobs, L., Deneff, C., Tamaninni, F., and McGuire, R., (2006). Earthquake Risk Map of
Europe, Proc. First European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology,
Geneva, Switzerland, September 3-8, 2006.
Malhotra, P.K., and Senseny, P.E., (2005). Maps for Engineering and Underwriting of Earthquake Risk
in the USA. 1st International Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction, Kobe, Japan, January
18-20, invited.
Malhotra, P.K. (2005). Return Period of Design Ground Motions. Seismological Research Letters,
76(6), 693-699, November/December.
Malhotra, P.K. (2003). Strong-Motion Records for Site-Specific Analysis. Earthquake Spectra, 19(3),
557-578.
Malhotra, P.K., Senseny, P.E., Braga, A.C., and Allard, R.L. (2003). Testing Sprinkler-Pipe SeismicBrace Components. Earthquake Spectra, 19(1), 87-109.
Malhotra, P.K. (2002). Industrial Facilities. Earthquake Spectra, Supplement A to Volume 18, 2001
Bhuj, India Earthquake Reconnaissance Report, 257-264.
Malhotra, P.K., (2001). Test Protocol for Sprinkler-Pipe Seismic-Brace Components. Report No.
3001783, Factory Mutual Research, Norwood, MA.
Malhotra, P.K., (2001). Brace Spacing for Flammable Gas/Liquid Piping. Report No. 3006804, Factory
Mutual Research, Norwood, MA.
Malhotra, P.K. (2000). Practical Nonlinear Seismic Analysis of Tanks. Earthquake Spectra, 16(2), 473492.
Malhotra, P., Wenk, T., and Wieland, M. (2000). Simple Procedure for Seismic Analysis of
Liquid-Storage Tanks. J. Struct. Eng. International, IABSE, 10(3), 197-201.
Malhotra, P.K., and Veletsos, A.S., (1995). Seismic Response of Unanchored and Partially Anchored
Liquid-Storage Tanks. Report No. TR-105809, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto,
CA.
Malhotra, P.K., Huang, M.J., and Shakal, A.F., (1994). Interaction at Separation Joints of a Concrete
Bridge during 1992 Earthquakes in California. Proc. Fifth U.S. National Conf. on Earthquake
Eng., Chicago, Vol. I, 347-356.