scholarly journals Analysis of Site Amplification and Nonlinear Response Based on Ground Motion Records at MYGH10 Station in Japan

Author(s):  
Shiliang Zhang ◽  
Dongwang Tao ◽  
Quancai Xie ◽  
Qiang Ma ◽  
Fuchen Wang

Abstract Strong horizontal ground motions with the peak ground acceleration (PGA) larger than 1400 gal were observed at Yamamoto (MYGH10) station during the February 2021 Mj 7.3 off the east coast of Honshu, Japan, Fukushima earthquake. Firstly, in this paper, we discussed and verified the theoretical assumptions of the “Nakamura” method under weak and strong ground motions. The site amplification factor of the MYGH10 station was estimated using the surface horizontal-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) and the surface-to-borehole spectral ratio (SBSR), and the corrected HVSRC, respectively. Meanwhile, the reasons for underestimating the site amplification factor when using HVSR were explained. The vertical amplification phenomenon of seismic P-wave in the high-frequency band was analysed under weak and strong ground motions. Secondly, we utilized HVSR, SBSR, and theoretical transfer function (TTF) based on the 1D wave propagation theory to study the nonlinear site response of MYGH10 station under the mainshock of the Fukushima earthquake and the historically weak and strong ground motions, respectively. The changes in frequencies and amplitudes of the spectral ratio curves when nonlinearities were occurring at the site were analysed and compared using the spectra ratio curves of weak ground motion records and TTF as references. Finally, the recovery of the site after strong nonlinearity was also evaluated by comparing the spectral ratio curves of aftershocks records. We found that the most significant amplification factor of the site increased from 7 to more than 10, and the predominant frequency decreased from 10 Hz to 3.8 Hz under the mainshock of the Fukushima earthquake. The predominant frequency returned to the previous value within three days after the mainshock, but the amplification factor did not.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Hsiang Kuo ◽  
Shu-Hsien Chao ◽  
Che-Min Lin ◽  
Jyun-Yan Huang ◽  
Kuo-Liang Wen

<p>Site amplification behavior are important in ground motion prediction. Seismic waves were amplified and caused significant building damages in the Taipei Basin by the 1986 Hualien offshore (subduction interface) and the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquakes (crustal), for which both of the epicentral distances were nearly 100 km. To understand local site amplifications in Taiwan, empirical site amplification factors for both horizontal and vertical ground motions are studied using recently constructed strong motion and site databases for the free-field TSMIP stations. Records of large magnitude earthquakes of M<sub>W</sub> larger than 5.5 from 1991 to 2016 were selected for this study. Site amplification factors at site conditions with Vs30 between 120 m/s to 1600 m/s and bedrock accelerations up to 0.8 g were evaluated using ratios of spectral accelerations at different periods. The reference site condition, i.e. the engineering bedrock, is assumed as Vs30 of 760 m/s (B/C boundary) in this study. Our empirical site amplification form are borrowed from the site response function of ASK14 and CY14 ground motion models in NGA-West2 project with slight modification. Therefore our site amplification model includes a linear amplification term and a nonlinear deamplification term. The coefficients of the empirical models were obtained by a nonlinear regression analysis using the selected Taiwan data. Site amplification factor is a function of Vs30 and spectral intensity in the model. Similar linear site amplification factor to the NGA models is derived in our model; however, more significant soil nonlinearity behavior than the NGA models is likely captured from the empirical data. The amplification factor in vertical component is smaller than that in horizontal.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (6) ◽  
pp. 2892-2911
Author(s):  
Eri Ito ◽  
Kenichi Nakano ◽  
Fumiaki Nagashima ◽  
Hiroshi Kawase

ABSTRACT The main purpose of the site classification or velocity determination at a target site is to obtain or estimate the horizontal site amplification factor (HSAF) at that site during future earthquakes because HSAF would have significant effects on the strong-motion characteristics. We have been investigating various kinds of methods to delineate the S-wave velocity structures and the subsequent HSAF, as precisely as possible. After the advent of the diffuse field concept, we have derived a simple formula based on the equipartitioned energy density observed in the layered half-space for incident body waves. In this study, based on the diffuse field concept, together with the generalized spectral inversion technique (GIT), we propose a method to directly estimate the HSAF of the S-wave portion from the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio of earthquakes (eHVSRs). Because the vertical amplification is included in the denominator of eHVSR, it cannot be viewed as HSAF without correction. We used GIT to determine both the HSAF and the vertical site amplification factor (VSAF) simultaneously from strong-motion data observed by the networks in Japan and then deduced the log-averaged vertical amplification correction function (VACF) from VSAFs at a total of 1678 sites in which 10 or more earthquakes have been observed. The VACF without a category has a constant amplitude of about 2 in the frequency range from 1 to 15 Hz. By multiplying eHVSR by VACF, we obtained the simulated HSAF. We verified the effectiveness of this correction method using data from observation sites not used in the aforementioned averaging in the frequency range from 0.12 to 15 Hz.


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.


Author(s):  
Tsung-Jen Teng ◽  
Pei-Ting Chen ◽  
Ting-Wei Chang ◽  
Yuan-Sen Yang ◽  
Chien-Kuo Chiu ◽  
...  

This study presents strong ground motion simulation methods for the future fragility study of a power plant in Southern Taiwan. The modified stochastic method and empirical Green function method are utilized to synthesize the strong ground motions of specific events. A modified physical random function model of strong ground motions for specific sites and events is presented in this study with verification of sample level. Based on the special models of the source, path, and local site, the random variables of the physical random function of strong ground motions is obtained. The inverse Fourier transform is used to simulate strong ground motions. For the empirical Green function method, the observed site records from small earthquake events occurring around the source area of a large earthquake are collected to simulate the broadband strong ground motion from a large earthquake event. Finally, an application of proposed two simulated methods of this study for simulating the ground motion records of Nishi-Akashi Station at 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2006 Southern Taiwan PingDong earthquake are presented.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 523-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Wang ◽  
Enrique Villalobos ◽  
Santiago Pujol ◽  
Hamood Al-Washali ◽  
Kazuki Suzuki ◽  
...  

The Faculty of Architecture and Engineering Building at Tohoku University survived two strong ground motions. This is not surprising because the structure was stiff and strong. What is surprising is that the first ground motion did not cause severe structural damage but the second one caused so much structural damage that the building had to be evacuated and demolished. The damage occurred despite two key facts: (1) the intensities of the mentioned ground motions are understood to have been similar and (2) the building was strengthened after the first motion (and before the second) following stringent standards.


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