scholarly journals Application of the Incremental Modal Analysis for Bridges (IMPAb) Subjected to Near-Fault Ground Motions

Author(s):  
Alessandro Vittorio Bergami ◽  
Gabriele Fiorentino ◽  
Davide Lavorato ◽  
Bruno Briseghella ◽  
Camillo Nuti

Near-fault ground motions can cause severe damage to civil structures, including bridges. Safety assessment of these structures for near fault ground motion is usually performed through Non-Linear Dynamic Analyses, while faster methods are often used. IMPAb (Incremental Modal Pushover Analysis for Bridges) permits to investigate the seismic response of a bridge by considering the effects of higher modes, which are often relevant for bridges. In this work, IMPAb is applied to a bridge case study considering near-fault pulse-like ground motion records. The records were analyzed and selected from the European Strong Motion Database and the pulse parameters were evaluated. In the paper results from standard pushover procedures and IMPAb are compared with nonlinear Response-History Analysis (NRHA), considering also the vertical component of the motion, as benchmark solutions and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). Results from the case study demonstrate that the vertical seismic action has a minor influence on the structural response of the bridge. Therefore IMPAb, which can be applied considering vertical motion, remains very effective conserving the original formulation of the procedure, and can be considered a well performing procedure also for near-fault events.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 6738
Author(s):  
Alessandro Vittorio Bergami ◽  
Gabriele Fiorentino ◽  
Davide Lavorato ◽  
Bruno Briseghella ◽  
Camillo Nuti

Near-fault events can cause severe damage to civil structures, including bridges. Many studies have demonstrated that the seismic assessment is not straightforward. Usually, dealing with near-fault ground motion, the structural analysis is performed using Nonlinear Response-History Analysis (NRHA) but in the last years, many authors have tested existing pushover-based procedures originally developed and validated using far-field events. Between those procedures, the Incremental Modal Pushover Analysis (IMPAβ) is a pushover-based procedure specifically developed for bridges that, in this work, was applied to a case study considering near-fault pulse-like ground motion records. The records were analyzed and selected from the European Strong Motion Database. In the paper the results obtained with IMPAβ together with other standard pushover procedures, are compared with NRHA and incremental dynamic analyses; the vertical component of the motion has been also considered. Results obtained with the bridge case study demonstrate that the vertical seismic action has a minor influence on the structural response and that IMPAβ is confirmed as a very effective pushover-based method that can be applied also for near-fault events.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janneke van Ginkel ◽  
Elmer Ruigrok ◽  
Rien Herber

<p>Up to now, almost all of the ground motion modeling and hazard assessment for seismicity in the Netherlands focuses on horizontal motion. As a rule of thumb, the strength of vertical ground motions is taken as 2/3 of that of horizontal ground motions. In reality of course, amplifications and V/H ratios are site-dependent and thus vary regionally.  Recent studies have indeed shown that vertical ground motion is not always simply 2/3 of the horizontal motion. However, these studies are performed in areas with high magnitude (Mw>5.0) earthquakes and the question is whether vertical motion is relevant to be included in seismic hazard assessment for low magnitude earthquakes (to date, max Mw=3.6 in Groningen).</p><p>In the Netherlands, the top part of the soils is practically always unconsolidated, so the elastic waves generated by deeper (~3000m) seated earthquakes will be subject to transformation when arriving in these layers. Recordings over a range of depth levels in the Groningen borehole network show the largest amplification to occur in the upper 50 meters of the sedimentary cover. We not only observe a strong amplification from shear waves on the horizontal components, but also from longitudinal waves on the vertical component. A better understanding of vertical motion of low magnitude earthquakes aims to support the design of re-enforcement measures for buildings in areas affected by low magnitude seismicity. Furthermore, interference between the longitudinal -and shear waves might contribute to damage on structures.</p><p>This study presents observations of longitudinal wave amplification in the frequency band 1-10 Hz, corresponding to resonance periods of Dutch buildings. From 19 seismic events, with a minimum of magnitude two, we retrieved transfer functions (TFs) from the vertical component, showing a strong site response at certain locations. In addition, we calculate event V/H ratios and VH factors from the surface seismometer. These results are compared with the TFs and show a similar pattern in terms of site response. Furthermore, the sites with highest vertical amplification correspond to very low (800-900 m/s) P-wave velocities. Our study shows that vertical amplification is very site dependent. However, the question whether the vertical motion is significant enough to form a real hazard can only be answered through cooperation between seismologist and structural engineer.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110275
Author(s):  
Carlos A Arteta ◽  
Cesar A Pajaro ◽  
Vicente Mercado ◽  
Julián Montejo ◽  
Mónica Arcila ◽  
...  

Subduction ground motions in northern South America are about a factor of 2 smaller than the ground motions for similar events in other regions. Nevertheless, historical and recent large-interface and intermediate-depth slab earthquakes of moment magnitudes Mw = 7.8 (Ecuador, 2016) and 7.2 (Colombia, 2012) evidenced the vast potential damage that vulnerable populations close to earthquake epicenters could experience. This article proposes a new empirical ground-motion prediction model for subduction events in northern South America, a regionalization of the global AG2020 ground-motion prediction equations. An updated ground-motion database curated by the Colombian Geological Survey is employed. It comprises recordings from earthquakes associated with the subduction of the Nazca plate gathered by the National Strong Motion Network in Colombia and by the Institute of Geophysics at Escuela Politécnica Nacional in Ecuador. The regional terms of our model are estimated with 539 records from 60 subduction events in Colombia and Ecuador with epicenters in the range of −0.6° to 7.6°N and 75.5° to 79.6°W, with Mw≥4.5, hypocentral depth range of 4 ≤  Zhypo ≤ 210 km, for distances up to 350 km. The model includes forearc and backarc terms to account for larger attenuation at backarc sites for slab events and site categorization based on natural period. The proposed model corrects the median AG2020 global model to better account for the larger attenuation of local ground motions and includes a partially non-ergodic variance model.


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Luis A. Pinzón ◽  
Luis G. Pujades ◽  
Irving Medranda ◽  
Rodrigo E. Alva

In this work, the directionality effects during the MW 7.8 earthquake, which occurred in Muisne (Ecuador) on 16 April 2016, were analyzed under two perspectives. The first one deals with the influence of these effects on seismic intensity measures (IMs), while the second refers to the assessment of the expected damage of a specific building located in Manta city, Ecuador, as a function of its azimuthal orientation. The records of strong motion in 21 accelerometric stations were used to analyze directionality in seismic actions. At the closest station to the epicenter (RRup = 20 km), the peak ground acceleration was 1380 cm/s2 (EW component of the APED station). A detailed study of the response spectra ratifies the importance of directionality and confirms the need to consider these effects in seismic hazard studies. Differences between IMs values that consider the directionality and those obtained from the as-recorded accelerograms are significant and they agree with studies carried out in other regions. Concerning the variation of the expected damage with respect to the building orientation, a reinforced concrete building, which was seriously affected by the earthquake, was taken as a case study. For this analysis, the accelerograms recorded at a nearby station and detailed structural documentation were used. The ETABS software was used for the structural analysis. Modal and pushover analyses were performed, obtaining capacity curves and capacity spectra in the two main axes of the building. Two advanced methods for damage assessment were used to obtain fragility and mean damage state curves. The performance points were obtained through the linear equivalent approximation. This allows estimation and analysis of the expected mean damage state and the probability of complete damage as functions of the building orientation. Results show that the actual probability of complete damage is close to 60%. This fact is mainly due to the greater severity of the seismic action in one of the two main axes of the building. The results are in accordance with the damage produced by the earthquake in the building and confirm the need to consider the directionality effects in damage and seismic risk assessments.


Author(s):  
Fabio Sabetta ◽  
Antonio Pugliese ◽  
Gabriele Fiorentino ◽  
Giovanni Lanzano ◽  
Lucia Luzi

AbstractThis work presents an up-to-date model for the simulation of non-stationary ground motions, including several novelties compared to the original study of Sabetta and Pugliese (Bull Seism Soc Am 86:337–352, 1996). The selection of the input motion in the framework of earthquake engineering has become progressively more important with the growing use of nonlinear dynamic analyses. Regardless of the increasing availability of large strong motion databases, ground motion records are not always available for a given earthquake scenario and site condition, requiring the adoption of simulated time series. Among the different techniques for the generation of ground motion records, we focused on the methods based on stochastic simulations, considering the time- frequency decomposition of the seismic ground motion. We updated the non-stationary stochastic model initially developed in Sabetta and Pugliese (Bull Seism Soc Am 86:337–352, 1996) and later modified by Pousse et al. (Bull Seism Soc Am 96:2103–2117, 2006) and Laurendeau et al. (Nonstationary stochastic simulation of strong ground-motion time histories: application to the Japanese database. 15 WCEE Lisbon, 2012). The model is based on the S-transform that implicitly considers both the amplitude and frequency modulation. The four model parameters required for the simulation are: Arias intensity, significant duration, central frequency, and frequency bandwidth. They were obtained from an empirical ground motion model calibrated using the accelerometric records included in the updated Italian strong-motion database ITACA. The simulated accelerograms show a good match with the ground motion model prediction of several amplitude and frequency measures, such as Arias intensity, peak acceleration, peak velocity, Fourier spectra, and response spectra.


Author(s):  
Soumya Kanti Maiti ◽  
Gony Yagoda-Biran ◽  
Ronnie Kamai

ABSTRACT Models for estimating earthquake ground motions are a key component in seismic hazard analysis. In data-rich regions, these models are mostly empirical, relying on the ever-increasing ground-motion databases. However, in areas in which strong-motion data are scarce, other approaches for ground-motion estimates are sought, including, but not limited to, the use of simulations to replace empirical data. In Israel, despite a clear seismic hazard posed by the active plate boundary on its eastern border, the instrumental record is sparse and poor, leading to the use of global models for hazard estimation in the building code and all other engineering applications. In this study, we develop a suite of alternative ground-motion models for Israel, based on an empirical database from Israel as well as on four data-calibrated synthetic databases. Two host models are used to constrain model behavior, such that the epistemic uncertainty is captured and characterized. Despite the lack of empirical data at large magnitudes and short distances, constraints based on the host models or on the physical grounds provided by simulations ensure these models are appropriate for engineering applications. The models presented herein are cast in terms of the Fourier amplitude spectra, which is a linear, physical representation of ground motions. The models are suitable for shallow crustal earthquakes; they include an estimate of the median and the aleatory variability, and are applicable in the magnitude range of 3–8 and distance range of 1–300 km.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1629-1645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronnie Kamai ◽  
Norman Abrahamson

We evaluate how much of the fling effect is removed from the NGA database and accompanying GMPEs due to standard strong motion processing. The analysis uses a large set of finite-fault simulations, processed with four different high-pass filter corners, representing the distribution within the PEER ground motion database. The effects of processing on the average horizontal component, the vertical component, and peak ground motion values are evaluated by taking the ratio between unprocessed and processed values. The results show that PGA, PGV, and other spectral values are not significantly affected by processing, partly thanks to the maximum period constraint used when developing the NGA GMPEs, but that the bias in peak ground displacement should not be ignored.


Author(s):  
Paul Somerville

This paper reviews concepts and trends in seismic hazard characterization that have emerged in the past decade, and identifies trends and concepts that are anticipated during the coming decade. New methods have been developed for characterizing potential earthquake sources that use geological and geodetic data in conjunction with historical seismicity data. Scaling relationships among earthquake source parameters have been developed to provide a more detailed representation of the earthquake source for ground motion prediction. Improved empirical ground motion models have been derived from a strong motion data set that has grown markedly over the past decade. However, these empirical models have a large degree of uncertainty because the magnitude - distance - soil category parameterization of these models often oversimplifies reality. This reflects the fact that other conditions that are known to have an important influence on strong ground motions, such as near- fault rupture directivity effects, crustal waveguide effects, and basin response effects, are not treated as parameters of these simple models. Numerical ground motion models based on seismological theory that include these additional effects have been developed and extensively validated against recorded ground motions, and used to estimate the ground motions of past earthquakes and predict the ground motions of future scenario earthquakes. The probabilistic approach to characterizing the ground motion that a given site will experience in the future is very compatible with current trends in earthquake engineering and the development of building codes. Performance based design requires a more comprehensive representation of ground motions than has conventionally been used. Ground motions estimates are needed at multiple annual probability levels, and may need to be specified not only by response spectra but also by suites of strong motion time histories for input into time-domain non-linear analyses of structures.


Author(s):  
Arben Pitarka ◽  
Aybige Akinci ◽  
Pasquale De Gori ◽  
Mauro Buttinelli

ABSTRACT The Mw 6.5 Norcia, Italy, earthquake occurred on 30 October 2016 and caused extensive damage to buildings in the epicentral area. The earthquake was recorded by a network of strong-motion stations, including 14 stations located within a 5 km distance from the two causative faults. We used a numerical approach for generating seismic waves from two hybrid deterministic and stochastic kinematic fault rupture models propagating through a 3D Earth model derived from seismic tomography and local geology. The broadband simulations were performed in the 0–5 Hz frequency range using a physics-based deterministic approach modeling the earthquake rupture and elastic wave propagation. We used SW4, a finite-difference code that uses a conforming curvilinear mesh, designed to model surface topography with high numerical accuracy. The simulations reproduce the amplitude and duration of observed near-fault ground motions. Our results also suggest that due to the local fault-slip pattern and upward rupture directivity, the spatial pattern of the horizontal near-fault ground motion generated during the earthquake was complex and characterized by several local minima and maxima. Some of these local ground-motion maxima in the near-fault region were not observed because of the sparse station coverage. The simulated peak ground velocity (PGV) is higher than both the recorded PGV and predicted PGV based on empirical models for several areas located above the fault planes. Ground motions calculated with and without surface topography indicate that, on average, the local topography amplifies the ground-motion velocity by 30%. There is correlation between the PGV and local topography, with the PGV being higher at hilltops. In contrast, spatial variations of simulated PGA do not correlate with the surface topography. Simulated ground motions are important for seismic hazard and engineering assessments for areas that lack seismic station coverage and historical recordings from large damaging earthquakes.


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