Strong Ground Motion and Concept

of Response Spectrum

March 2013

Sudhir K Jain, IIT Gandhinagar

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 1

EQ Ground Motions
 Low Amplitude Vibrations
 Long distance events
 Usually displacements
 Earth Scientists

Teleseismic Earthquake Recording

Surface Waves
Amplitude

P PP S

0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Time (s)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 2

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 EQ Ground Motions…

 Strong Ground Motions

 Near-field ground motions
 Usually accelerations
 Engineers

0.3
PGA=0.32g
0.2
0.1
Accn. (g)

0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Time (seconds)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 3

Peak Ground Parameters

 Acceleration (PGA)
 Velocity (PGV)
 Displacement (PGD)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 4

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 Maximum Recorded Motion

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide

(Martinez-Pereira, 5
1999)

Characteristics…
 Parameters…
 Duration of Significant Shaking
 Frequency Content

1985 Mexico Earthquake (SCT 1A; N90E)

0.5g 1940 Imperial Valley Earthquake (El Centro; S00E)

1971 San Fernando Earthquake (Pacoima Dam; N76W)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (sec)

1991 Uttarkashi Earthquake (Uttarkashi, N75E)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 6

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 Characteristics
 Influence of
 Magnitude of EQ
 Source mechanism Fault
 Type of faulting

Fault

 Distance from source

 Soil/rock medium along travel path
 Local soil site, geology, topology, etc.,. Attenuation
with Distance

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 7

Accelerogram
 During ground shaking, one can measure
ground acceleration versus time (accelerogram)
using an accelerograph
 Accelerograph is the instrument
 Accelerogram is the record obtained from it
 Accelerogram is the variation of ground acceleration with
time (also called time history of ground motion)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 8

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 Typical Accelerograph

This is a typical analog instrument. These days, digital instruments are

becoming popular (photo from Earthquakes by Bolt)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 9

Typical
Accelerograms

From Dynamics of Structures

by A K Chopra, Prentice Hall

Time, sec

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 10

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 Response Spectrum (contd…)

 If the ground moves as per the given

accelerogram, what is the maximum response of
a single degree of freedom (SDOF) system (of
given natural period and damping)?
 Response may mean any quantity of interest,
e.g., deformation, acceleration

T=2 sec,
Damping  =2%
a(t)/g

Time, sec
Ground motion time history
Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 11

Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Using a computer, one can calculate the

response of SDOF system with time (time
history of response)
 Can pick maximum response of this SDOF
system (of given T and damping) from this
response time history
 See next slide

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 12

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 Response Spectrum (contd…)

Maximum response = 7.47 in.

d(t)

Time, sec
T=2 sec,
Time History of Deformation (relative displacement
of mass with respect to base) response Damping  =2%

a(t)/g

Time, sec
Ground motion time history

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 13

Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Repeat this exercise for different values of

natural period.
 For design, we usually need only the maximum
response.
 Hence, for future use, plot maximum response
versus natural period (for a given value of
damping).
 Such a plot of maximum response versus
natural period for a given accelerogram is called
response spectrum.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 14

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 Response Spectrum (contd…)

ag(t)/g Displacement
Response
Spectrum for
Time, sec
T=0.5 sec the above time
 =2% history
d(t)/g

T=1.0 sec
 =2% d(t)/g

dmax
T=2.0 sec
 =2% d(t)/g

Time, sec
Figure After Chopra, 2001 T, sec

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 15

Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Response Spectrum is useful to obtain maximum

response of any SDOF system for that
accelerogram and for that value of damping.
 See example on next slide

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 16

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 Example

Acceleration, g
Mass = 10,000kg
Natural Period T=1 sec
Damping  =5% of critical
3m
Time (sec)
Ground Acceleration Time History

Maximum Acceleration, g
From Response Spectrum:
Spectral Acceleration (for T=1sec) = 0.48 g
Max. Base Shear = Mass x Spectral Accln.
=(10,000kg) x (0.48x9.81m/sec2)
= 47,000 N = 47 kN
Max. Base Moment Undamped Natural Period T (sec)
=(47kN) x (3m) = 141 kN-m Acceleration Response Spectrum for the
above accelerogram for 5% damping
(Fig. from Seed and Idriss, 1982)
Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 17

Response Spectrum (contd…)

 May repeat the entire process for different values of

damping
Maximum Velocity, in/sec

Velocity response spectra

for N-S component of 1940
El Centro record (damping
values of 0, 2, 5 and 10%)
Natural Period T (sec)
Fig From Housner, 1970

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 18

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 Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Unless otherwise mentioned, response spectrum

is based on a linear elastic system

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 19

Response Spectrum (contd…)

 By response we may mean any response

quantity of interest to us, for example:
 Absolute acceleration of the mass
 Termed as Acceleration Response Spectrum
 Relative velocity of the mass with respect to
base
 Termed as Velocity Response Spectrum
 Relative displacement of the mass with respect
to base
 Termed as Displacement Response Spectrum
 Word Spectra is used to denote plural of
Spectrum.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 20

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 Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Since SDOF system responds maximum to the

waves of frequency near its own natural
frequency,
 Response spectrum is also a very good way to
characterize the strong ground motion from
engineering view point.
 For instance, relative strength of low frequency versus high
frequency waves
 See example on next slide

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 21

Example: Velocity spectra from two accelerograms

Velocity, ft/sec

Natural Period T (sec)

Note that the two response spectra above show very different frequency content. Ground
motion B has more energy at low periods. An expert may be able to make out from these
spectra that B is recorded at a short distance (say 15km) from a small earthquake, while A
is recorded from a large earthquake at a large distance (say 100km) (Fig. edited from
Housner, 1970)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 22

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 Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Response spectrum is a very powerful tool.

 Uses of response spectrum:
 To obtain maximum response of a SDOF system
(to the original accelerogram using which
response spectrum was obtained)
 To obtain maximum response in a particular
mode of vibration of a multi degree of freedom
(MDOF) system
 It tells about the characteristics of the ground
motion (accelerogram)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 23

Response Spectrum (contd…)

 Different terms used in IS:1893

 Design Acceleration Spectrum (clause 3.5)
 Response Spectrum (clause 3.27)
 Acceleration Response Spectrum (used in cl.
3.30)
 Design Spectrum (title of cl. 6.4)
 Structural Response Factor
 Average response acceleration coefficient (see
terminology of Sa/g on p. 11)
 Title of Fig. 2: Response Spectra for ….
 It is better if the code uses the term
consistently.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 24

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 Smooth Response Spectrum
 Real spectrum has somewhat irregular shape
with local peaks and valleys
 For design purpose, local peaks and valleys
should be ignored
 Since natural period cannot be calculated with
that much accuracy.
 Hence, smooth response spectrum used for
design purposes
 For developing design spectra, one also needs
to consider other issues
 We will discuss this later.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 25

Smooth Response Spectrum (contd…)

Period (sec) Period (sec) Period (sec)

Acceleration Spectra Velocity Spectra Displacement Spectra

Shown here are typical smooth spectra used in design

for different values of damping
(Fig. from Housner, 1970)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 26

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 Ground Acceleration (contd...)

 Note the term Peak Ground Acceleration

(PGA) is max acceleration of ground.
 Because of deformation in the structure, the
motion of its base and the superstructure will be
different
 Max acceleration experienced by mass of the
structure will be different from the PGA (except if
the structure is rigid)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 27

Ground Acceleration

 ZPA stands for Zero Period Acceleration.

 Implies max acceleration experienced by a
structure having zero natural period (T=0).

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 28

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 Zero Period Acceleration
 An infinitely rigid structure
 Has zero natural period (T=0)
 Does not deform:
 No relative motion between its mass and its base
 Mass has same acceleration as of the ground
 Hence, ZPA is same as Peak Ground
Acceleration
 For very low values of period, acceleration
spectrum tends to be equal to PGA.
 We should be able to read the value of PGA
from an acceleration spectrum.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 29

Peak Ground Acceleration (contd…)

 Average shape of acceleration response

spectrum for 5% damping (Fig. on next slide)
 Ordinate at 0.1 to 0.3 sec ~ 2.5 times the PGA
 There can be a stray peak in the ground motion;
i.e., unusually large peak.
 Such a peak does not affect most of the
response spectrum and needs to be ignored.
 Effective Peak Ground Acceleration
(EPGA) defined as 0.40 times the spectral
acceleration in 0.1 to 0.3 sec range (cl. 3.11)
 There are also other definitions of EPGA, but we
will not concern ourselves with those.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 30

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 Typical shape of acceleration spectrum
1.80

1.60

1.40

Spectral Acceleration (g) 1.20

1.00

0.80

0.60

0.40

PGA = 0.6g 0.20

0.00
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
Period (sec)

•Typical shape of acceleration response spectrum

•Spectral acceleration at zero period (T=0) gives PGA
•Value at 0.1-0.3 sec is ~ 2.5 times PGA value (for 5% damping)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 31

What is Design Spectrum

 Seismic Design Force can be specified in terms

of Response Spectrum:
 Termed as Design Spectrum

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 32

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 Response Spectrum versus Design Spectrum

 Consider the Acceleration Response Spectrum

 Notice the region of red circle marked: a slight
change in natural period can lead to large
variation in maximum acceleration
Spectral Acceleration, g

Undamped Natural Period T (sec)

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 33

Response Spectrum versus Design Spectrum (contd…)

 Natural period of a civil engineering structure

cannot be calculated precisely
 Design specification should not very sensitive to
a small change in natural period.
 Hence, design spectrum is a smooth or average
shape without local peaks and valleys you see in
the response spectrum

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 34

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 Design Spectrum
 Since some damage is expected and accepted in
the structure during strong shaking, design
spectrum is developed considering the
overstrength, redundancy, and ductility in the
structure.
 The site may be prone to shaking from large but
distant earthquakes as well as from medium but
nearby earthquakes: design spectrum may
account for these as well.
 See Fig. next slide.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 35

Design Spectrum (contd…)

Spectral Acceleration, g

Natural vibration period Tn, sec

Fig. from Dynamics of Structures by Chopra, 2001

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 36

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 Design Spectrum (contd…)

 Design Spectrum is a design specification

 It must take into account any issues that have
bearing on seismic safety.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 37

Design Spectrum (contd…)

 Design Spectrum must be accompanied by:

 Load factors or permissible stresses that must be
used
 Different choice of load factors will give different seismic
safety to the structure
 Damping to be used in design
 Variation in the value of damping used will affect the design
force.
 Method of calculation of natural period
 Depending on modeling assumptions, one can get different
values of natural period.
 Type of detailing for ductility
 Design force can be lowered if structure has higher ductility.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 38

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 Soil Effect
 Recorded earthquake motions show that
response spectrum shape differs for different
type of soil profile at the site

Fig. from
Geotechnical
Earthquake
Engineering, by
Kramer, 1996

Period (sec)
Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 39

Soil Effect (contd…)

 This variation in ground motion characteristic for

different sites is now accounted for through different
shapes of response spectrum for three types of sites.
Spectral Acceleration Coefficient (Sa /g)

Fig. from
IS:1893-2002

Period(s)
Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 40

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 Shape of Design Spectrum
 The three curves in Fig. 2 have been drawn
based on general trends of average response
spectra shapes.
 In recent years, the US codes (UBC, NEHRP and
IBC) have provided more sophistication wherein
the shape of design spectrum varies from area
to area depending on the ground motion
characteristics expected.

Sudhir K. Jain March 2013 Slide 41

Design Spectrum for Stiff Structures

 For very stiff structures (T < 0.1sec), ductility is not helpful in
reducing the design force.
 As a stiff structure gets
damaged during the Design spectrum assumes peak
shaking, its period extends to T=0
elongates Actual shape of response spectrum
(may be used for higher modes only)
 i.e., during the same
ground shaking, a very
stiff structure may ride
Spectral acceleration

up the ascending part

of the graph.
 Codes tend to
disallow the reduction
in force in the period
range of T < 0.1sec
T(seconds)

Concept sometimes used by the codes for

response spectrum in low period range.

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