Strong Ground MotiongEvaluation of the effects of earthquakes requires the study of ground motionthe study of ground motion

Engineering Seismology deals with vibrations related to earthquakes, which are strong enoughrelated to earthquakes, which are strong enough to cause damage to people and environment

The ground motions produced by earthquakes at g yany particular point have 3 translational and 3 rotational components.

In practice, generally translational components of ground motion are measured and the rotational components are ignored.p g

Strong motion seismographsStrong motion seismographs

Designed to pickup strong, Designed to pickup strong, Seismographs in India highhigh--amplitude shaking amplitude shaking

close to quake sourceclose to quake source Most common type is the Most common type is the

ll

s in India

accelerometeraccelerometer Directly records ground Directly records ground

accelerationacceleration Recording is triggered by Recording is triggered by

first wavesfirst waves Difficult to differentiate P,S Difficult to differentiate P,S

and surface wavesand surface waves

Seismogram interpretationSeismogram interpretationSeismogram interpretationSeismogram interpretation Seismograms can provide Seismograms can provide

i f ii f iinformation oninformation on epicenter locationepicenter location Magnitude of Magnitude of

earthquakeearthquakeearthquakeearthquake source propertiessource properties

Most seismograms will Most seismograms will record P, S & surface record P, S & surface ,,waveswaves

First arrival is P waveFirst arrival is P wave After a pause of several After a pause of several - surface waves follow and may

seconds/seconds/1010s seconds the s seconds the higher amplitude S wave higher amplitude S wave arrivesarrivesDefines SDefines S P intervalP interval

surface waves follow and maycontinue for tens of seconds

- surface waves are slower butpersist to greater distances than

Defines SDefines S--P intervalP interval p gP & S waves

Wave terminologyWave terminologyWave terminologyWave terminology Wave amplitudeWave amplitude

height of a wave above height of a wave above its zero positionits zero position

Wave periodWave period time taken to complete time taken to complete

one cycle of motionone cycle of motion FrequencyFrequency

number of cycles per number of cycles per second (Hertz)second (Hertz)

felt shaking during felt shaking during k h f ik h f iquake has frequencies quake has frequencies

from from 20 20 down to down to 1 1 HertzHertz Human ear can detect frequenciesdown to 15 Hz

Ground Motion RecordingGround Motion RecordingThe actual ground motion at a given location is derived from instrumentally recorded motions. The most commonly used instruments for engineering g gpurposes are strong motion accelerographs/ accelerometers. These instruments record theThese instruments record the acceleration time history of ground motion at a site, called an

laccelerogram.

By proper analysis of a recorded accelerogram to account for instr ment distortion and base line correction the res lting correctedinstrument distortion and base line correction, the resulting corrected acceleration record can be used by engineers to obtain ground velocity and ground displacement by appropriate integration.

AccelerometerAccelerometerAccelerometerAccelerometerTypes of Accelerometers:

Electronic : transducers produce voltage outputServo controlled: use suspended mass with di l t t ddisplacement transducerPiezoelectric: Mass attached to a piezoelectric material, which develops electric

Principle: An acceleration a will cause the mass to be displaced by ma/k orwhich develops electric

charge on surface.the mass to be displaced by ma/k or alternatively, if we observe a displacement of x, we know that the mass has undergone an acceleration of kx/m.

Generally accelerometers are placed in three orthogonal directions to measure accelerations in three directions at any time. Sometimes

of kx/m.

geophones (velocity transducers) are attached to accelerometers to measure the seismic wave velocities.

Ground Motion ParametersGround Motion ParametersAn earthquake history can be described using amplitude, frequency content and duration

Ground Motion ParametersGround Motion Parameters

content, and duration.

Amplitude: The most common measures of amplitude are

PGA: Peak ground acceleration (Horizontal- PHA & Vertical- PVA)PGA: Peak ground acceleration (Horizontal PHA & Vertical PVA)EPA: Effective peak acceleration PGV: Peak ground velocity ( PHV & PVV)EPV: Effective peak velocity yPGD: Peak ground displacement

Frequency Content: The frequency content of an earthquake history is often described using Fourier Spectra, Power spectra and response spectra.

Duration: The duration of an earthquake history is somewhatDuration: The duration of an earthquake history is somewhat dependent on the magnitude of the earthquake.

Measurement of ground accelerationMeasurement of ground accelerationA seismograph can be illustrated by a mass-spring-dashpot single degree of freedom system.

The response of such system for shaking is given by

0u muk tu c

tu m g2

2

The response of such system for shaking is given by

tt Where u is the trace displacement (relative displacement between seismograph and ground), ug is the ground g g ) g gdisplacement, c is the damping coefficient, k is the stiffness coefficient.

Measurement of ground accelerationMeasurement of ground acceleration

If the ground displacement is simple harmonic at a circular frequency g , the ground acceleration amplitude is calculated from the trace displacement

lit d i th ti 1uamplitude using the equation: 22222

02

241

1

tuug

t

Where 0 is the undamped natural circular frequency

is tuning ratio, given by g/ 0

Is damping ratio, given by c p g , g y

mk2

Amplitude ParametersAmplitude Parameters

From the time histories of acceleration, velocity and displacement are obtained by integrating the acceleration

d All h li d l l drecords. All other amplitude parameters are calculated from these time histories.

Amplitude ParametersAmplitude ParametersAmplitude ParametersAmplitude Parameters

Effective Acceleration: The acceleration which is effective in causing structural damage. This depends on size of loaded area, weight, damping and stiffnesson size of loaded area, weight, damping and stiffness properties of structure and its location with respect to epicenter.

Sustained Maximum Acceleration: The absolute values of highest accelerations that sustained for 3 and 5 cycles in acceleration time history are defined as 3-cycle sustained and 5-cycle sustained y yaccelerations respectively.

Frequency Content ParametersFrequency Content Parametersq yq yThe frequency content of an earthquake history is often described using Fourier Spectra Poweroften described using Fourier Spectra, Power spectra and response spectra.

Fourier SpectrapA periodic function (for which an earthquake history is an approximation) can be written as

)sin()(10 nnn n tcctx

where cn and n are the amplitude and phase angle respectively of the nth harmonic in the g p yFourier series.

Frequency Content ParametersFrequency Content Parametersq yq y

The Fourier amplitude spectrum is a plot of cnp p p nversus n

Shows how the amplitude of the motion varies with frequency.

Expresses the frequency content of a motion

The Fourier phase spectrum is a plot of n versusn

Phase angles control the times at which the peaks of harmonic motion occur.

Fourier phase spectrum is influenced by the variation of ground motion with time.

Fourier Amplitude Spectrump p

og)

The Fourier amplitude spectra of actual earthquakes are often

mpl

itude

(lo

plotted on logarithmic scales, so that their characteristic shapes can be clearly distinguished from

f fFour

ier A

mcan be clearly distinguished from the smoothed curves.

Two frequencies that mark the fc fmax

Frequency (log)

Fqrange of frequencies for largest Fourier acceleration amplitude are corner frequency (f ) andare corner frequency (fc) and cutoff frequency (fmax)

fc is a very important parameter because it is inversely c y p p yproportional to the cube root of seismic moment, thus indicating that large earthquakes produce greater low-frequency motions

Frequency Content ParametersFrequency Content Parametersq yq yPower SpectraThe power spectrum is a plot of G() versus n . The power spectrum density (PSD) function is defined by the following equation and is closely y g q yrelated to the Fourier amplitude spectrum:

21)( cG

where G( ) is the PSD Td is the duration of the

dT π)( ncG

where G( ) is the PSD, Td is the duration of the ground motion, and cn is the amplitude of the nth

harmonic in the Fourier series. PSD function is sed to characteri e an earthq ake histor as aused to characterize an earthquake history as a

random process.

Frequency Content ParametersFrequency Content ParametersResponse SpectraResponse spectra are

q yq y

Response spectra are widely used in earthquake engineering Theengineering. The response spectrum describes the maximum response of a SDOF oscillator to a particular inputto a particular input motion as a function of frequency and damping ratio Thedamping ratio. The response spectra from two sites (one

DurationDurationDuration of an earthquake is very important parameter that influences the amount of damage due to earthquake. A strong motion of very high amplitude of short durationA strong motion of very high amplitude of short duration may not cause as much damage to a structure as a motion with moderate amplitude with long duration can cause This is because the ground motion with longcause. This is because the ground motion with long duration causes more load reversals, which is important in the degradation of stiffness of the structures and in building up pore pressures in loose saturated soils.

Duration represents the time required for the release of l t d t i l f lt th iaccumulated strain energy along a fault, thus increases

with increase in magnitude of earthquake.

Relative duration does not depend on the peak valuesRelative duration does not depend on the peak values. It is the time interval between the points at which 0.05% and 0.95% of the total energy has been recorded.

DurationDurationBracketed duration is the measure of time between the first and last exceedence of a threshold accelerationfirst and last exceedence of a threshold acceleration 0.05 g.

Other Spectral ParametersOther Spectral ParametersppRMS acceleration : This is the parameter that includes the effects of amplitude and frequencyincludes the effects of amplitude and frequency, defined as

dT

0

2 dttaT1

rmsa0

dTWhere a(t) is the acceleration over the time domain and Td is the duration of strong motionand Td is the duration of strong motion

AI - The Arias Intensity is a measure of the total energy at the recording station and is proportional to gy g p pthe sum of the squared acceleration. It is defined as

dAI2 dtta

gAI

02

Other Spectral ParametersOther Spectral ParametersSI - The Spectrum Intensity is defined as the integral f th d S t l l it ( l k

pp

of the psuedo-Spectral velocity curve (also known as the velocity response spectrum), integrated between periods of 0.1 - 2.5 seconds. These quantities are motivated by the need to examine the response of structures to ground motion, as many structures have fundamental periods between 0 1 and 2 5 sec The SIfundamental periods between 0.1 and 2.5 sec. The SI can be calculated for any structural damping ratio.

Dominant frequency of ground motion (F d) is q y g ( _ )defined as the frequency corresponding to the peak value in the amplitude spectrum. Thus, F_d indicates the frequency for which the ground motion has the mostthe frequency for which the ground motion has the most energy. The amplitude spectrum has to be smoothed before determining F_d.

Other Spectral ParametersOther Spectral ParametersPredominant Period (Tp): Period of vibration corresponding to the

f

pp

GM1maximum value of the Fourier amplitude spectrum. This parameter represents the frequency content of ur

ier

plitu

de

GM2

p q ythe motion. The predominant period for two different ground motions with different frequency contents can be

TPerio

Fou

Am

different frequency contents can be same, making the estimation of frequency content crude.

pPeriodTp is same for the two

ground motions, though the frequency

Bandwidth BW - of the dominant frequency; measured where the amplitude falls to 0 707 (1 /sq root 2)

though the frequency content is different

amplitude falls to 0.707 (1 /sq. root 2) of the amplitude of the dominant frequency. Again, this is based on a

Spatial variability of ground motionsSpatial variability of ground motionsp y gp y gThe ground motion parameters at any site depend upon the magnitude of earthquake and the distance of the sitethe magnitude of earthquake and the distance of the site from epicenter.

The ground motion parameters measured at a site haveThe ground motion parameters measured at a site have been used to develop empirical relationships to predict the parameters as functions of earthquake magnitude and source to site distance But these predictions areand source-to-site distance. But these predictions are not accurate.

For structures that extend over considerable distanceFor structures that extend over considerable distance (such as bridges and pipelines), the ground motion parameters will be different at different part of the t t i diff ti l t f th tstructure, causing differential movement of the supports.

Local variation of ground motion parameters need to be considered for the design of such structures.