International Seismic Zone Tabulation Proposed by the 1997 UBC Code: Observations for Mexico Arturo Tena-Colunga, M.EERI The Uniform Building Code (UBC) is perhaps one of the most advanced seismic codes worldwide. The 1997 version of the Uniform Building Code (UBC- 97) has important modifications with respect to previous versions, among other changes, the introduction of structural overstrength, redundancy and reliability factors for the design of structural elements. In addition, the UBC-97 code revises seismic zoning for areas outside the United States under Division III, Section 1653. In fact, practically the entire world is zoned by the UBC-97 under this section, and many practicing engineers worldwide may feel confident to use the UBC code for the design of civil structures in countries other than the United States, particularly because it is written in this section that “Note: This division has been revised in its entirety”. This paper discusses whether or not Section 1653 of the UBC-97 code has any justification for Mexico, by comparing the UBC design criteria with the criteria established by ruling Mexican codes. According to Mexican authorities, only the referenced Mexican building codes should be used for the design of civil structures in Mexico, so the UBC-97 cannot be used for the seismic design of civil structures in Mexico legally. INTRODUCTION The Uniform Building Code (UBC) is regarded as one of the most advanced seismic codes worldwide. Many seismic design criteria have been formerly introduced by the UBC and other codes have later adopted and/or adapted such procedures. The 1997 version of the Uniform Building Code (UBC-97, “Uniform” 1997) has introduced new provisions for the design of structures with respect to previous versions. Among other interesting modifications of UBC-97 that impacts the seismic design of structures, one should mention: (a) The structural overstrength, and redundancy/reliability factors which are directly considered for the design of structures, as established in Section 1630.1. Dpto. de Materiales, Universidad Auténoma Metropolitana, Av. San Pablo 180, 02200 México, DF, MEXICO aa ‘Earthquake Spectra, Volume 15, No, 2, May 1999m2 A.TENA-COLUNGA (b) The definition of the design base shear for static analysis (Section 1630.2) and the definition of the elastic response spectrum for dynamic analysis (Section 1631.2), which are now defined in terms of seismic coefficients Cz (Table 16-Q) and C, (Table 16-R) for each seismic zone (Table 16-1), (©) The introduction of new seismic response modification factors R (Table 16-N or 16-P) which replace the Ry factors of previous versions. These new R factors are smaller in absolute value than previous Ryy factors. These R factors appear to be based in additional studies, (d) The definition of up to six different soil profile types (Table 16-J, Section 1636), which are now also defined in terms of the shear wave velocity, the standard penetration resistance and the undrained shear strength. Previous UBC versions had four different soil profile types which were mostly classified in terms of the soil depth and general soil characteristics. All these modifications seem to be based on detailed studies suited for that purpose and they are intended to improve the seismic design of structures within the United States. These criteria and other contained in the UBC code are also interesting to evaluate for possible adaptations to other seismic codes worldwide; however, it should be recognized that the seismic hazard, the design procedures and criteria in other countries may differ from those of the United States. The UBC-97 code also revises a seismic zoning for areas outside the United States under Division II, Section 1653, a zoning that was formerly introduced in the 1994 edition and that it has been taken from the Tri-Services Manual, a document used for U.S. military bases (Bachman 1998). In fact, practically the entire world is zoned by the UBC-97 under Section 1653, and many practicing engineers worldwide may feel confident to use the UBC code for the design of civil structures in countries other than the United States, particularly those unfamiliar with the background for this section. It should be remarked that the UBC code only applies in juridisctions where it is adopted, including the United States, where only a fraction of the jurisdictions mapped in the UBC-97 currently adopt this code (Bachman 1998). However, the author found a source of misunderstanding in Section 1653, as it is written in this section that “Note: This division has been revised in its entirety.” This “note” could be misunderstood by most people, particularly those unfamiliar with its background. In fact, the author has recently attended a telephone call where a structural engineer of the United States asked him about the “UBC seismic zoning for Silao,” a city of the Mexican state of Guanajuato. The author told him that it is not correct to use the UBC code in Mexico and that he should use the Manual of Civil Structures (MOC-93 1993) instead. The use of UBC-97 in countries other than the United States is not necessarily correct, might not be conservative as compared to local regulations and may have legal problems in many countries. This paper discusses whether or not Section 1653 of the UBC-97 has any application for Mexico, by comparing the UBC design criteria with the criteria established by ruling Mexican codes. According to Mexican authorities, only the referenced Mexican building codes should be used for the design of civil structures in Mexico, therefore, the UBC-97 cannot be used for the seismic design of civil structures in Mexico legally.PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL SEISMIC ZONE TABULATION: OBSERVATIONS FOR MEXICO 333 SEISMIC CODES OF MEXICO There are three major seismic codes used in Mexico: (a) the 1993 Mexico's Federal District Code (RCDF-93 1993), which is the ruling code of Mexico City, (b) the 1993 Manual of Civil Structures (MOC-93 1993), which is used in the entire nation in lieu of a specific code for a state or a city. In fact, most cities nationwide refer to the seismic provisions of MOC-93 and, (c) the 1990 seismic code for the state of Guerrero (RCGS-90 1990). The model code in Mexico has always been Mexico's Federal District Code, so most seismic design provisions and complementary structural material design provisions (reinforced concrete, steel, masonry, wood, etc.) are common in all seismic codes referenced above, although there are also some differences, particularly between RCDF-93 and MOC-93. In particular, MOC-93 has an updated version to account for soil-structure interaction effects with respect to RCDF-93. In addition, MOC-93 considers specific design criteria for highway bridges, pipelines, dams, industrial facilities, industrial chimneys, silos and other special structures that RCDF-93 does not consider in detail. The following sections present with some detail some of the seismic provisions for Mexican codes, as they are not usually available in English, and it is important for the discussion of this paper that the seismic design philosophy and bases for Mexican codes be understood. ELASTIC DESIGN SPECTRA. The design spectra for Mexican codes are based on detailed studies where the seismic hazard was evaluated using both deterministic and probabilistic approaches. The criteria used to define the seismic design spectra for the different zones of RCDF-93 are presented in Rosenblueth et al. (1989), as the design spectra of RCDF-93 are the same as for the 1987 version of the code. The criteria used to define the seismic zonation (Figure 1) and the design spectra for MOC-93 are presented in detail in the commentaries to the code (MOC-93 1993). 34.00 32.00 30.00 28.00 26.00 24.00 LONGITUDE 22.00 20.00 } 18.00 16.00 eee 1800-11400 110.00 -108,.00 102.00 98.00 94.00 -90.00 -86.00 LATITUDE Figure 1. MOC-93 seismic zone map of Mexico (from MOC-93 1993).