• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.233-240
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• 2021

The stochastic method is applied to simulate strong ground motions at seismic stations of seven metropolises in South Korea, creating an earthquake scenario based on the causative fault of the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake. Input parameters are established according to what has been revealed so far for the causative fault of the Gyeongju earthquake, while the ratio of differences in response spectra between observed and simulated strong ground motions is assumed to be an adjustment factor. The calculations confirm the applicability and reproducibility of strong ground motion simulations based on the relatively small bias in response spectra between observed and simulated strong ground motions. Based on this result, strong ground motions by a scenario earthquake on the causative fault of the Gyeongju earthquake with moment magnitude 6.5 are simulated, assuming that the ratios of its fault length to width are 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1. The results are similar to those of the empirical Green's function method. Although actual site response factors of seismic stations should be supplemented later, the simulated strong ground motions can be used as input data for developing ground motion prediction equations and input data for calculating the design response spectra of major facilities in South Korea.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.327-344
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• 2010

This paper summarizes results of a comprehensive analytical study aimed at evaluating the influence of strong ground motion duration on residual displacement demands of single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) and multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) systems. For that purpose, two sets of 20 earthquake ground motions representative of short-duration and long-duration records were considered in this investigation. While the influence of strong ground motion duration was evaluated through constant-strength residual displacement ratios, $C_r$, computed from the nonlinear response of elastoplastic SDOF systems, its effect on the amplitude and height-wise distribution of residual drift demands in MDOF systems was studied from the response of three one-bay two-dimensional generic frame models. In this investigation, an inelastic ground motion intensity measure was employed to scale each record, which allowed reducing the record-to-record variability in the estimation of residual drift demands. From the results obtained in this study, it was found that long strong-motion duration records might trigger larger median $C_r$ ratios for SDOF systems having short-to-medium period of vibration than short strong-motion duration records. However, taking into account the large record-to-record variability of $C_r$, it was found that strong motion duration might not be statistically significant for most of the combinations of period of vibration and levels of lateral strength considered in this study. In addition, strong motion duration does not have a significant influence on the amplitude of peak residual drift demands in MDOF systems, but records having long strong-motion duration tend to increase residual drift demands in the upper stories of long-period generic frames.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.2
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• pp.117-128
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• 2023

On February 6, 2023, Türkiye woke up with a strong ground motion felt in a wide geography. As a result of the Kahramanmaraş, Pazarcık and Elbistan earthquakes, which took place 9 hours apart, there was great destruction and loss of life. The 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes occurred on active faults known to pose a high seismic hazard, but their effects were devastating. Seismic code spectra were investigated in Hatay, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş where destruction is high. The study mainly focuses on the investigation of ground motion parameters of 6 February Kahramanmaraş earthquakes and the correlation between ground motion parameters. In addition, earthquakes greater than Mw 5.0 that occurred in Türkiye were compared with certain seismic parameters. As in the strong ground motion studies, seismic energy parameters such as Arias intensity, characteristic intensity, cumulative absolute velocity and specific energy density were determined, especially considering the duration content of the earthquake. Based on the study, it was concluded that the structures were overloaded far beyond their normal design levels. This, coupled with significant vertical seismic components, is a contributing factor to the collapse of many buildings in the area. In the evaluation made on Arias intensity, much more energy (approximately ten times) emerged in Kahramanmaraş earthquakes compared to other Türkiye earthquakes. No good correlation was found between moment magnitude and peak ground accelerations, peak ground velocities, Arias intensities and ground motion durations in Türkiye earthquakes. Both high seismic components and long ground motion durations caused intense energy to be transferred to the structures. No strong correlation was found between ground motion durations and other seismic parameters. There is a strong positive correlation between PGA and seismic energy parameter AI. Kahramanmaraş earthquakes revealed that changes should be made in the Turkish seismic code to predict higher spectral acceleration values, especially in earthquake-prone regions in Türkiye.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 2007

For areas such as the Korean Peninsula, which have moderate seismic activity but no available records of strong ground motion, synthetic seismograms can be used to evaluate ground motion without waiting for a strong earthquake. Such seismograms represent the estimated ground motions expected from a set of possible earthquake scenarios. Local site effects are especially important in assessing the seismic hazard and possible ground motion scenarios for a specific fault. The earthquake source and rupture dynamics can be described as a two-step process of rupture initiation and front propagation controlled by a frictional sliding mechanism. The seismic wavefield propagates through heterogeneous geological media and finally undergoes near-surface modulations such as amplification or deamplification. This is a complex system in which various scales of physical phenomena are integrated. A unified approach incorporates multi-scale problems of dynamic rupture, radiated wave propagation, and site effects into an all-in-one model using a three-dimensional, fourth-order, staggered-grid, finite-difference method. The method explains strong ground motions as products of complex systems that can be modified according to a variety of fine-scale rupture scenarios and friction models. A series of such deterministic earthquake scenarios can shed light on the kind of damage that would result and where it would be located.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2014

The main focus of this paper is the analysis of the different components of the variability for strong ground motions recorded from earthquakes produced by the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source. The analysis is performed for two ground motion prediction equations: Youngs et al. (1997) and Zhao et al. (2006), recommended within the SHARE project for the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source and which are proposed in the work of Delavaud et al. (2012) and graded best in Vacareanu et al. (2013c). The first phase of the analysis procedure consists of a grading procedure. In the second phase, the single station sigma procedure is applied for both attenuation models in order to reduce some parts of ground motion models' variability produced by the ergodic assumption. The strong ground motion database which is used throughout the study consists of over 400 accelerograms recorded from 9 Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic events. The results of the single station sigma analysis show significant reduction of the standard deviations, especially in the case of the Youngs et al. (1997) attenuation model, which is also graded better than the other selected GMPE.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.141-161
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• 2014

This article presents a new generation of empirical ground motion models for the prediction of response spectral accelerations in soil conditions, specifically developed for the Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic source. The strong ground motion database from which the ground motion prediction model is derived consists of over 800 horizontal components of acceleration recorded from nine Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic events as well as from other seventeen intermediate-depth earthquakes produced in other seismically active regions in the world. Among the main features of the new ground motion model are the prediction of spectral ordinates values (besides the prediction of the peak ground acceleration), the extension of the magnitudes range applicability, the use of consistent metrics (epicentral distance) for this type of seismic source, the extension of the distance range applicability to 300 km, the partition of total standard deviation in intra- and inter-event standard deviations and the use of a national strong ground motion database more than two times larger than in the previous studies. The results suggest that this model is an improvement of the previous generation of ground motion prediction models and can be properly employed in the analysis of the seismic hazard of Romania.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.411-442
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• 2008

Ground motions in near source region of large crustal earthquakes are significantly affected by rupture directivity and tectonic fling. These effects are the strongest at longer periods and they can have a significant impact on Engineering Structures. In this paper, it is aimed to determine near-fault ground motion effects on the nonlinear response of dams including dam-reservoir-foundation interaction. Four different types of dam, which are gravity, arch, concrete faced rockfill and clay core rockfill dams, are selected to investigate the near-fault ground motion effects on dam responses. The behavior of reservoir is taken into account by using Lagrangian approach. Strong ground motion records of Duzce (1999), Northridge (1994) and Erzincan (1992) earthquakes are selected for the analyses. Displacements, maximum and minimum principal stresses are determined by using the finite element method. The displacements and principal stresses obtained from the four different dam types subjected to these nearfault strong-ground motions are compared with each other. It is seen from the results that near-fault ground motions have different impacts on the dam types.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.419-429
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• 2024

The safety and stability of bridges are critical to traffic safety. However, post-earthquake ground motion records often contain noise, which undermines the accuracy of seismic response analysis in bridge structures. To tackle this issue, we introduce a method that optimizes Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) parameters using the Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA) and combines it with Wavelet Thresholding (WT) to eliminate noise from strong motion signals. SSA is employed to identify the optimal VMD parameters [K, α], followed by the selection of effective modes based on the Variance Contribution Rate (VCR). These modes are then subjected to WT noise reduction, resulting in a high-quality reconstructed strong motion record. The method was validated using both simulated signals and ground motion records. In simulations, it demonstrated a 31.35% reduction in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), a 31.6% decrease in the Smoothness Indicator (R), and a 1.17% improvement in the Correlation Coefficient (CC), compared to other methods. For ground motion records, it more accurately preserved seismic features than traditional wavelet denoising. When applied to the seismic response analysis of the Dahejia Bridge during the Jishishan earthquake, the denoised ground motion records obtained by this method produced force predictions on pier bearings that closely matched the field-observed damage, outperforming predictions based on traditional wavelet denoising. These findings confirm the accuracy and practicality of the proposed method.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.563-588
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• 2016

In this study, solution models are proposed to obtain code-compatible ground motion record sets which can be used for both uni-directional and bi-directional dynamic analyses. Besides scaled, unscaled ground motion record sets are obtained to show the utility and efficiency of the solution models. For scaled ground motion sets the proposed model is based on hybrid HS-Solver which integrates heuristic harmony search (HS) algorithm with the spreadsheet Solver add-in. For unscaled ground motion sets HS based solution model is proposed. Design spectra defined in Eurocode-8 for different soil types are selected as target spectra. The European Strong Motion Database is used to get ground motion record sets. Also, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the effect of different HS solution parameters on the solution accuracy. Results show that the proposed solution models can be regarded as efficient ways to develop scaled and unscaled ground motion sets compatible with code-based design spectra.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.629-637
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• 2018

In recent years, selection of strong ground motion records by means of intensity measures representing the spectral shape of the earthquake excitation has been studied by many researchers. These studies indicate the adequacy of this record selection approach in reduction of the scattering of seismic responses. In present study, this method has been studied more in depth to reveal the sufficiency of the spectral shape in predicting structural seismic responses such as the plastic deformation and the dissipated hysteresis energy which are associated with cumulative properties of the selected records. For this purpose, after selecting the records based on the spectral shape, the correlation of some seismic responses and strong ground motion duration of earthquake records are explored. Findings indicate strong correlation of some structural responses with the significant duration of the records. This fact implies that the spectral shape could not reflect all characteristics of the strong ground motion and emphasizes the importance of additional criteria along with the spectral shape in the record selection.