Evaluation of Hybrid Broadband Ground Motion Simulations for Response History Analysis and Design

Lynne S. Burks, Reid B. Zimmerman, & Jack W. Baker

Published August 2015, SCEC Contribution #1794

Chapter 16 of ASCE 7 governs the selection of ground motion recordings for structural analysis and requires recordings that meet detailed criteria. If enough recordings cannot be found, it allows the use of “appropriate simulated ground motions” but does not provide further guidance. This paper outlines a procedure for generating and selecting a set of “appropriate” hybrid broadband simulations and compares it to a similar set of recordings. Both ground motion sets are used to analyze a real building design for Berkeley, CA and the predicted structural performance is compared. The structural behavior resulting from recordings and simulations is very similar and most discrepancies are explained by differences in directional properties such as orientation of the maximum spectral response. In certain cases, such as when simulations meet the criteria outlined for recordings in ASCE 7 Chapter 16 and ground motion parameters like directionality are controlled, our results suggest that hybrid broadband simulations can successfully be used for structural analysis and design.

Citation
Burks, L. S., Zimmerman, R. B., & Baker, J. W. (2015). Evaluation of Hybrid Broadband Ground Motion Simulations for Response History Analysis and Design. Earthquake Spectra, 31(3), 1691-1710. doi: 10.1193/091113EQS248M.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Earthquake Engineering Implementation Interface