SCEC Award Number 10099 View PDF
Proposal Category Individual Proposal (Integration and Theory)
Proposal Title ASSESSMENT OF APPLICABILITY OF SIMULATED GROUND MOTIONS IN DESIGN OF TALL BUILDINGS IN CALIFORNIA
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Farzin Zareian University of California, Irvine
Other Participants Robert Graves
one graduate student
one undergraduate student
SCEC Priorities B4, B6, B5 SCEC Groups GMSV
Report Due Date 02/28/2011 Date Report Submitted N/A
Project Abstract
The objective is to assess the applicability of simulated ground motions in engineering practice. We have used Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) and Multi Degree of Freedom (MDOF) systems for this assessment; both linear and nonlinear systems are considered. We focused our efforts on assessing the similarity between simulated and recorded motions from historic events; four events from broadband simulations were investigated: 1979 Mw 6.5 Imperial Valley, 1989 Mw 6.8 Loma Prieta, 1992 Mw 7.2 Landers, and 1994 Mw 6.7 Northridge. Results show that both elastic and inelastic demands to simulated and recorded motions are generally similar. However, for some structural systems, the inelastic response to simulated accelerograms may produce median demands and dispersions that differ from those obtained using corresponding recorded motions. The magnitude of differences in seismic response depends on the period and the nonlinearity level and, to a lesser extent, on the hysteretic model used. In the case of peak response, these discrepancies are likely due to differences in the spectral shape, while the differences in terms of cyclic response can be explained by some integral parameters of ground motion (i.e., duration-related). Moreover, the intra-event standard deviation values of structural demands calculated from the simulations are generally lower than those given by recorded ground motions, especially at short periods. Assessment of the results using formal statistical hypothesis tests indicates that in most cases the differences found are not significant, increasing the confidence in the use of simulated motions for engineering applications. Caution is warranted given the limited number of SDOF and MDOF models used in this study, plus ground motions were all from historic events where simulations have a high likelihood in matching the recordings.
Intellectual Merit This study is among the first of its kind, attempting to validate ground motion simulations made by SCEC scientist. We have introduced a methodology for the validation purpose that is based on sound statistical analysis and can be extended to future validation efforts in this kind.
Broader Impacts This study creates a bridge between the engineering community and SCEC scientists. While this study addresses the applicability of simulated ground motions in engineering practice, it may also provide insight on how to improve ground motion simulation science.
Exemplary Figure Figure 1
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