• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.233-247
• /
• 2006

Most codes of practice state that for large in-plane structures it is necessary to account for the spatial variability of earthquake ground motion. There are essentially three effects that contribute for this variation: (i) wave passage effect, due to finite propagation velocity; (ii) incoherence effect, due to differences in superposition of waves; and (iii) the local site amplification due to spatial variation in geological conditions. This paper discusses the procedures to be undertaken in the time domain analysis of a cable-stayed bridge under spatial variability of earthquake ground motion. The artificial synthesis of correlated displacements series that simulate the earthquake load is discussed first. Next, it is described the 3D model of the International Guadiana Bridge used for running tests with seismic analysis. A comparison of the effects produced by seismic waves with different apparent propagation velocities and different geological conditions is undertaken. The results in this study show that the differences between the analysis with and without spatial variability of earthquake ground motion can be important for some displacements and internal forces, especially those influenced by symmetric modes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.1001-1018
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this paper is to compare the structural responses obtained from the stochastic analysis of a suspension bridge subjected to uniform and partially correlated seismic ground motions, using different spatial correlation functions commonly used in the earthquake engineering. The spatial correlation function employed in this study consists of a term that characterizes the loss of coherency. To account for the spatial variability of ground motions, the widely used four loss of coherency models in the literature has been taken into account in this study. Because each of these models has its own characteristics, it is intended to determine the sensitivity of a suspension bridge due to these losses of coherency models which represent the spatial variability of ground motions. Bosporus Suspension Bridge connects Europe to Asia in Istanbul is selected as a numerical example. The bridge has steel towers that are flexible, inclined hangers and a steel box-deck of 1074 m main span, with side spans of 231 and 255 m on the European and Asian sides, respectively. For the ground motion the filtered white noise model is considered and applied in the vertical direction, the intensity parameter of this model is obtained by using the S16E component of Pacoima Dam record of 1971 San Fernando earthquake. An analytically simple model called as filtered white noise ground motion model is chosen to represent the earthquake ground motion. When compared with the uniform ground motion case, the results obtained from the spatial variability models with partial correlation outline the necessity to include the spatial variability of ground motions in the stochastic dynamic analysis of suspension bridges. It is observed that while the largest response values are obtained for the model proposed by Harichandran and Vanmarcke, the model proposed by Uscinski produces the smallest responses among the considered partially correlated ground motion models. The response values obtained from the uniform ground motion case are usually smaller than those of the responses obtained from the partially correlated ground motion cases. While the response values at the flexible parts of the bridge are totally dominated by the dynamic component, the pseudo-static component also has significant contributions for the response values at the rigid parts of the bridge. The results also show the consistency of the spatial variability models, which have different characteristics, considered in this study.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.269-280
• /
• 2018

Post-earthquake damages investigation in past and recent earthquakes has illustrated that the ground motion spatial variation plays an important role in the structural response of long span bridges. For the structural control of seismic-induced vibrations of cable-stayed bridges, it is extremely important to include the effects of the ground motion spatial variation in the analysis for design of an effective control system. The feasibility and efficiency of different vibration control strategies for the cable-stayed bridge under multiple support excitations have been examined to enhance a structure's ability to withstand earthquake excitations. Comparison of the response due to non-uniform input ground motion with that due to uniform input demonstrates the importance of accounting for spatial variability of excitations. The performance of the optimized designed control systems for uniform input excitations gets worse dramatically over almost all of the evaluation criteria under multiple-support excitations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.33-44
• /
• 2004

This paper is focused on the spatial variability of measured strong motion data during earthquake and its relationship with the performance of water distribution pipelines and residential buildings. Analyses of strong motion and the correlations of peak ground velocity (PGV) and pipeline and building damage were conducted with a very large geographical information system (GIS) database including the relationship of time and earthquake intensity and the measured location, and Kriging spatial statistics. Kriging was used to develop regressions of pipeline repair rate (RR) and residential building damage ratio (DR) associated with $90\%$ confidence peak ground velocity (PGV). Such regressions using Kriging provide an explicit means of characterizing the uncertainty embodied in the strong motion data compared with other spacial statistics such as inverse distance method.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.557-566
• /
• 2019

The evaluation of the seismic hazard for a given site is to estimate the seismic ground motion at the surface. This is the result of the combination of the action of the seismic source, which generates seismic waves, the propagation of these waves between the source and the site, and site local conditions. The aim of this work is to evaluate the sensitivity of dynamic response of extended structures to spatial variable ground motions (SVGM). All factors of spatial variability of ground motion are considered, especially local site effect. In this paper, a method is presented to simulate spatially varying earthquake ground motions. The scheme for generating spatially varying ground motions is established for spatial locations on the ground surface with varying site conditions. In this proposed method, two steps are necessary. Firstly, the base rock motions are assumed to have the same intensity and are modelled with a filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function. An empirical coherency loss model is used to define spatial variable seismic ground motions at the base rock. In the second step, power spectral density function of ground motion on surface is derived by considering site amplification effect based on the one dimensional seismic wave propagation theory. Several dynamics analysis of a curved viaduct to various cases of spatially varying seismic ground motions are performed. For comparison, responses to uniform ground motion, to spatial ground motions without considering local site effect, to spatial ground motions with considering coherency loss, phase delay and local site effects are also calculated. The results showed that the generated seismic signals are strongly conditioned by the local site effect. In the same sense, the dynamic response of the viaduct is very sensitive of the variation of local geological conditions of the site. The effect of neglecting local site effect in dynamic analysis gives rise to a significant underestimation of the seismic demand of the structure.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.223-232
• /
• 2021

The spatial variation characteristics of seismic motions at the nuclear power plant's site and structures were analyzed using earthquake records obtained at the Fukushima nuclear power plant during the Great East Japan Earthquake. The ground responses amplified as they approached the soil surface from the lower rock surface, and the amplification occurred intensively at about 50 m near the ground. Due to the soil layer's nonlinear characteristics caused by the strong seismic motion, the ground's natural frequency derived from the response spectrum ratio appeared to be smaller than that calculated from the shear wave velocity profile. The spatial variation of the peak ground acceleration at the ground surface of the power plant site showed a significant difference of about 0.6 g at the maximum. As a result of comparing the response spectrums at the basement of the structure with the design response spectrum, there was a large variability by each power plant unit. The difference was more significant in the Fukushima Daiichi site record, which showed larger peak ground acceleration at the surface. The earthquake motions input to the basement of the structure amplified according to the structure's height. The natural frequency obtained from the recorded results was lower than that indicated in the previous research. Also, the floor response spectrum change according to the location at the same height was investigated. The vertical response on the foundation surface showed a significant difference in spectral acceleration depending on the location. The amplified response in the structure showed a different variability depending on the type of structure and the target frequency.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.141-152
• /
• 2000

Based on the discussion about some empirical coherency models resulted from earthquake-induced ground motion recordings at the SMART-1 array in Taiwan, and a heuristic model of the coherency function from elementary notions of stationary random process theory and a few simplifying assumptions regarding the propagation of seismic waves, a practical coherency model for spatially varying ground motions, which can be applied in aseismic analysis and design, is proposed, and the regressive coefficients are obtained using least-square fitting technique from the above recordings.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.123-133
• /
• 2003

A practical statistical approach that can be used to model various sources of uncertainty systematically is presented in the context of reliability analysis of slope stability. New expressions for probabilistic characterization of soil properties incorporate sampling and measurement errors, as well as spatial variability and its reduced variance due to spatial averaging. The stochastic nature of seismic loading is studied by generating a large series of hazard-compatible artificial motions, and by using them in subsequent response analyses. The analyses indicate that in a seismically less active region such as the Korean Peninsular, a moderate variability in soil properties has an effect as large as the characterization of earthquake hazard on the computed risk of slope failure and excessive slope deformations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.70 no.2
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2019

In this study, stochastic responses of a cable-stayed bridge subjected to the spatially varying earthquake ground motion are investigated for variable local soil cases and wave velocities. Quincy Bay-view cable-stayed bridge built on the Mississippi River in Illinois, USA selected as a numerical example. The bridge is composed of two H-shaped concrete towers, double plane fan type cables and a composite concrete-steel girder deck. The spatial variability of the ground motion is considered with the coherency function, which is represented by the components of incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The incoherence effect is investigated by considering Harichandran and Vanmarcke model, the site-response effect is outlined by using hard, medium and soft soil types, and the wave-passage effect is taken into account by using 1000, 600 and 200 m/s wave velocities for the hard, medium and soft soils, respectively. Mean of maximum response values obtained from the analyses are compared with those of the specific cases of the ground motion model. It is concluded that the obtained results from the bridge model increase as the differences between local soil conditions cases of the bridge supports change from firm to soft. Moreover, the variation of the wave velocity has important effects on the responses of the deck and towers as compared with those of the travelling constant wave velocity case. In addition, the variability of the ground motions should be considered in the analysis of long span cable-stayed bridges to obtain more accurate results in calculating the bridge responses.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.583-595
• /
• 2019

In this paper, a comprehensive investigation of the dynamic response of a long-bridge subjected to spatially varying earthquake ground motions (SVEGM) is performed based on a proposed analytical model which includes the effect of soil-structure interaction (SSI). The spatial variability of ground motions is simulated by the powerful record generator, SIMQKE II. Modeling of the SSI in the system is simplified by replacing the pile foundations and soil with sets of independent equivalent linear springs and dashpots along the pile groups. One of the most fundamental objectives of this study is to examine how well the proposed model simulates the dynamic response of a bridge system. For this purpose, the baseline data required for the evaluation process is derived from analyzing a 3D numerical model of the bridge system which is validated in this paper. To emphasize the importance of the SVEGM and SSI, bridge responses are also determined for the uniform ground motion and fixed base cases. This study proposing a compatible analytical model concerns the relative importance of the SSI and SVEGM and shows that these effects cannot be neglected in the seismic analysis of long-bridges.