scholarly journals Spectrum analysis of strong-motion earthquakes*

1953 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-119
Author(s):  
G. W. Housner ◽  
R. R. Martel ◽  
J. L. Alford

Abstract The problem of the dynamic response of a structure to earthquake ground motion has been formulated in a manner which permits separation of the characteristics of particular structures from the characteristics of the earthquake. The expression involving the characteristics of the earthquake is defined as the “spectrum” of the earthquake and it is shown that the spectrum is a plot of the maximum response of a simple oscillator versus the period of the oscillator. Eighty-eight such spectra were computed by means of an electric analog computer and are presented in this paper. It is found that damping is a very important parameter in the over-all problem; relatively small amounts of damping reduce the structural response sharply. Further research on damping in buildings is recommended, and it is also proposed that the spectrum be used as a quantitative measure of earthquake intensity.

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ghobarah ◽  
T. Baumber

During recent earthquakes, the documented cases of collapsed unreinforced brick masonry industrial chimneys are numerous. Observed modes of structural failure are either total collapse or sometimes collapse or damage of the top third of the structure. The objective of this study is to analyze and explain the modes of observed failure of masonry chimneys during earthquake events, and to evaluate two retrofit systems for existing chimneys in areas of high seismicity. The behaviour of the masonry chimney, when subjected to earthquake ground motion, was modelled using a lumped mass system. Several actual strong motion records were used as input to the model. The shear, moment, and displacement responses to the earthquake ground motion were evaluated for various chimney configurations. It was found that the failure of the chimney at its base is the result of the fundamental mode of vibration. Failure at the top third of the structure due to the higher modes of vibration is possible when the chimney is subjected to high frequency content earthquakes. Higher modes, which are normally not of concern under wind loading, were shown to be critical in seismic design. Post-tensioning and the reinforcing steel cage were found to be effective retrofit systems. Key words: masonry, chimneys, behaviour, analysis, design, retrofit, dynamic, earthquakes, seismic response.


1973 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 1025-1039
Author(s):  
Bruce M. Douglas ◽  
Thomas E. Trabert

abstract The coupled bending and torsional vibrations of a relatively symmetric 22-story reinforced concrete building in Reno, Nevada are studied. Analytical results are compared with observations obtained during the nuclear explosion FAULTLESS and to ambient vibration data. The fundamental periods of vibration observed during FAULTLESS were (TNS = 1.42, TEW = 1.81, TTORSION = 1.12 sec), and the calculated periods were (TNS = 2.14, TEW = 2.07, TTORSION = 1.90 sec). It was estimated that between 25 and 45 per cent of the total available nonstructural stiffness was required to explain the differences in the observed and calculated fundamental periods. Each floor diaphragm in the system was allowed three degrees of freedom-two translations and a rotation. It was found that coupled torsional motions can influence the response of structural elements near the periphery of the structure. Strong-motion structural response calculations comparing the simultaneous use of both components of horizontal ground motion to a single component analysis showed that the simultaneous application of both components of ground motion can significantly alter the response of lateral load-carrying elements. Differences of the order of 45 per cent were observed in the frames near the ends of the structure. Also, it was shown that the overall response of tall buildings is sensitive not only to the choice of input ground motion but also to the orientation of the structure with respect to the seismic waves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Mianshui Rong ◽  
Xiaojun Li ◽  
Lei Fu

SUMMARY Given the improvements that have been made in the forward calculations of seismic noise horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (NHVSRs) or earthquake ground motion HVSRs (EHVSRs), a number of HVSR inversion methods have been proposed to identify underground velocity structures. Compared with the studies on NHVSR inversion, the research on the EHVSR-based inversion methods is relatively rare. In this paper, to make full use of the widely available and constantly accumulating strong-motion observation data, we propose an S-wave HVSR inversion method based on diffuse-field approximation. Herein, the S-wave components of earthquake ground motion recordings are considered as data source. Improvements to the objective function has been achieved in this work. An objective function with the slope term is introduced. The new objective function can mitigate the multisolution phenomenon encountered when working with HVSR curves with multipeaks. Then, a synthetic case is used to show the verification of the proposed method and this method has been applied to invert underground velocity structures for six KiK-net stations based on earthquake observations. The results show that the proposed S-wave EHVSR inversion method is effective for identifying underground velocity structures.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-451
Author(s):  
Editorial Office

This book is a work for general readers, straight-forwardly treating the theme of "strong earthquake ground motion" directly causing disaster and explaining how to cope. Eartquake ground motion is generally said to cause earthquake disasters and the degree of ground motion is determined both by the magnitude of the earthquake and the distance from its epicenter. In reality, however, things are not so simple. In the 2003 Tokachi Offshore Earthquake, for example, shaking at a relatively long 10-second period resonated at the characteristic frequency of oil tanks, triggering sloshing and causing large fires. In the 1995 Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake (the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster), for another example, a long narrow belt of disaster confirmed where damage to collapsed building was especially significant because only ground within this belt quaked more intensely than elsewhere.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 7658-7664
Author(s):  
T. Nagao

The considered parameters in seismic design vary, with the Earthquake Ground Motion (EGM) having the largest variation. Since source characteristic, path characteristic, and Site Amplification Factor (SAF) influence the EGM, it is crucial to appropriately consider their variations. Source characteristic variations are mainly considered in a seismic hazard analysis, which is commonly used to evaluate variations in EGM. However, it is also important to evaluate variations in path characteristic and SAF with only a few studies having individually and quantitatively examined the variations of these two characteristics. In this study, based on strong-motion observation records obtained from four sites in central Japan, the three characteristics were extracted from seismograms using the concept of spectral inversion. After removing the source characteristic, the path characteristic and SAF were separated, and the variations in these two characteristics were quantified. To separate and obtain each characteristic from the observed record, one constraint condition must be imposed, whereas the variations in the constraint condition must be ignored. In that case, the variations in the constraint condition are included in the variations of the separated characteristics. In this study, this problem was solved by evaluating the variation in the constraint condition, which is the SAF at a hard rock site, by the use of the vertical array observation record at the site.


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