Abstract: Seismic design has become an important part of modern engineering design especially in overseas projects. Mastering foreign standards especially the American standards is the basic premise of the seismic design for overseas projects. This paper compares the current Chinese standard SH/T 3039 with the American standards ASCE 7 and UBC 1997 concerning the seismic design of non-buried metal pipes for petrochemical industry from the aspects of seismic fortification goals, seismic checking conditions, seismic coefficient calculation, and the selection of load partial coefficient in basic load combination, and points out their similarities and differences, so as to deepen the understanding and mastery of the American standards concerning the seismic design of non-buried metal pipe for petrochemical industry

Key words: seismic fortification goal, seismic coefficient, SH/T 3039, ASCE 7, UBC 1997