简介：Theseismicconceptualdesignisanessentialpartofseismicdesigncodes.Itpointsoutthattheterm'seismicconceptualdesign'shouldimplythreeaspects,i.e.,thegivenconceptitself,thespecificprovisionsrelatedtothegivenconceptandthedesigningfollowingtheprovisions.Seismicconceptualdesigncanbeclassifiedintotwocategories:thestrictortraditionalseismicconceptualdesignandthegeneralizedseismicconceptualdesign.Theauthorsaretryingtodefineforbothconceptualdesignstheirconnotationsandstudytheircharacteristics,inparticular,thedifferencesbetweenthem.Authorsemphasizethatbothconceptualdesignssoundveryclose,however,theirdifferencesareapparent.Thestrictconceptualdesignsareusuallyworkedoutdirectlyfromengineeringpracticeand/orlessonslearntfromearthquakedamage,whilethegeneralizedconceptualdesignsareresultedinaseriesofvisionsaimingtorealizethegeneralobjectivesoftheseismiccodes.Thestrictconceptualdesigns,(traditionalconceptualdesigns)areindispensableelementsofseismiccodesinassuringdesignedstructuressaferandthegeneralizedconceptualdesignsareplayingkeyrolesindirectingtoamoreadvancedandeffectiveseismiccodes.