Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

Vol. 15, No. 5 (2020) 3104 - 3121

© School of Engineering, Taylor’s University

GEOMETRIC NONLINEAR TIME DOMAIN SPECTRAL

MATCHING SEISMIC ANALYSIS OF BASE ISOLATED HIGH
RISE BUILDINGS INCLUDING P-DELTA EFFECT

A. J. ABDULKAREEM, R. M. ABBAS*

Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering,

University of Baghdad,Aljadria,P.O. Box: 47024, Baghdad, Iraq
*Corresponding Author: dr.rafaa@coeng.uobaghdad.edu.iq

Abstract
Time-domain spectral matching commonly used to define seismic inputs to
dynamic analysis in terms of acceleration time history compatible with a specific
target response spectrum is used in this study to investigate the second-order
geometric effect of P-delta on the seismic response of base-isolated high-rise
buildings. A synthetic time series is generated by adjusting reference time series
that consist of available readings from a past earthquake of the 1940 El Centro
earthquake adopted as an initial time series. The superstructure of a 20-story base
isolated building is represented by a 3-D finite element model using ETABS
software. The results of the base isolated building show that base isolation
technique significantly reduces inter-story drift and acceleration of the
superstructure. Results presented reflect the potential of synthetic time history
analysis to capture base isolator characteristics and to show their effect on the
results of the dynamic analysis when compared to target response spectrum
analysis. Geometric nonlinear analysis due to P-delta reveals that p-delta effect
reduces base shear and story acceleration by about 5%, whereas inter-story drifts
increased by about 3%. This study shows that including geometric nonlinearity
due to p-delta reduces pseudo acceleration of the superstructure and hence the
earthquake-induced forces in the structure.
Keywords: Base isolation, High rise building, Response spectrum, Synthetic
earthquake, Time history, Time domain method.

3104
 Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3105

1. Introduction
The increasing height and greater structures efficiency of high-rise buildings have
led to slender buildings and slender components making it important to consider
the increasing deflections produced by lateral forces and, thus stability [1]. Hence,
the effect of building loading acting on the deformed geometry of the structure
creates what is referred to as the second order effects or P-Delta effect. The second
order effect of vertical loads acting upon a laterally displaced structure causes it to
drift, the resulting eccentricity of the gravity loading from the axes of the walls and
columns produces additional external moments to which the structure responds by
drifting further. A check on the effects of this reduction in stability has become an
important part of high-rise building design process [2, 3].
The risk of earthquakes has always been a threat to high-rise buildings and the
preservation of the safety of buildings after and during the earthquake is essential.
Reducing damage from dynamic loads effects, especially in active seismic zones, is
one of the main concerns of structural engineering [4]. Designers have worked to find
solutions that reduce the impact of earthquakes, including isolated bases, dampers,
and others within the frame structure. At present, various methods have proven to
improve the capacity of structures to withstand earthquakes loads. Among these
techniques is base isolation which has proven efficient technique. It is a simple
structural system that reduces the lateral stiffness of the structure base and avoids
high seismic frequencies to reaching pass through to the body of the building [5].
Many of the codes and specifications dictate the use of dynamic analysis
methods, especially time history records to evaluate the response of base isolated
buildings because they have the capability to show their effect on the results of the
analysis [6]. There are three basic options for selecting acceleration records [7]:
Artificial records compatible with the design response spectrum, synthetic records
obtained from the seismological models, and records from the real earthquakes
records. Real time history data may be limited in many countries and the available
time history recorded ground motion gives a response spectrum not match to target
response spectrum of the site in which the building is to be constructed. Thus,
synthetic and artificial time histories are widely used instead [8].
Previous studies have shown that generation and use of synthetic time history
are of importance for earthquake analysis. Adnan et al. [9] presented a study on the
generation of artificial time history in Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia where there are no
real records of the site selected. Two methods for generating time history were
used; synthetically records and artificial. The results showed that time records
affect the spectral acceleration requirement, while soil conditions affect spectrum
content. Fahjan and Ozdemir [10] investigated several algorithms and software to
perform standardization of seven seismic records to suit a given response spectrum
and comparisons between acceleration and spectral transition resulting from
seismic records and the design response. They concluded that the average records
of acceleration, velocity and transition spectra vary by about 25% from the design
spectrum for some frequency bands. Al Zaidee and Al-Baghdady [11] studied the
response of damped SDOF systems to stationary white-noise and filtered white-
noise random excitations. The analysis shows that system damping ratio is reduced
when using lower damping rubber bearing as a base isolator and may lead to
decrease the effectiveness of the base isolation system. Most recently, Cancellara
and De Angelis [12] studied the dynamic behaviour of base isolated multi-story

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3106 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

buildings characterized by high irregularity in plan. Two different types of dynamic

analyses are investigated: response spectrum and a nonlinear analysis. The study
showed that the results obtained by performing the two different dynamic analyses
has a significant importance with reference to the recent Italian seismic code. Liu
et al. [13] investigated the importance of the selection of representative input
ground motion (IGMs) for proper nonlinear response time history analysis. They
proposed a modal-based ground motion selection procedure (MGMS) as a
supplement to spectrum matching-based selection procedures. The computed
seismic demands with (MGMS) show very good agreement with the mean demands
determined using the whole set of seed (IGMs).
However, in all of the previous studies related to the seismic response of tall
buildings, the effect due to P-delta on the seismic response of base isolated high-
rise buildings was not accounted for. In this study, the structure of a base isolated
high-rise building is modelled by using finite element method via ETABS software
to study the effect of P-delta analysis on the building seismic response. The
geometric non-linear dynamic analysis study is carried out by generating a
synthetic earthquake matched to target response spectrum.
The objectives of this paper include (i) assessment of the effect of P-delta
analysis on the seismic response of base isolated tall steel buildings considering;
building sway, story drift, maximum base shear and moment, and story acceleration
(ii) to study the effectiveness when reference time history records used to generate
synthetic earthquake in the time domain as compared to design response spectrum
and (iii) to investigated the influence of base isolation technique on the seismic
response and stability of tall buildings.

2. Synthetic Earthquake
Design time series is established by adjusting an initial time series that consist of
records from past earthquakes or numerical simulations of the ground motion for
the design event. Currently, the approaches used for adjusting the time series to be
compatible with the target spectra involve scaling and spectral matching
techniques. Scaling includes altering the initial time series by a factor so that the
spectrum of the generated series is equal to or exceeds the target spectrum
throughout a certain period range [14]. Spectral matching technique is based on the
idea of modulating the frequency content of a recorded ground motion so that its
response spectrum matches a target [15].
Generally, spectral matching is commonly used in engineering practice. The
approaches for spectral matching include: the frequency domain method, the frequency
domain method with random vibration theory, and the time domain method. Several
studies have been conducted proving that the time-domain method is more efficient
than the frequency domain [16, 17]. Generally, the time domain method is
recommended for spectral matching since this method adjusts the acceleration time
histories in the time domain by adding wavelets. Moreover, the time domain spectral
matching approach has good convergence properties and mostly preserves the character
of the initial time series as compared with other approaches.

2.1. Algorithm for time domain spectral matching

The time domain method was first introduced by Lilhanand and Tseng (1987, 1988)
[18]. They suggested an algorithm that uses the functions of the wavelet to modify

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

 Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3107

the initial time history. Each wavelet is shifted in time so that the time of the SDOF
oscillator peak response as subjected to the wavelet, is the same as that of the peak
response when subjected to the initial acceleration time history.
The objective is to modify a(t), the initial time series acceleration, such that its
calculated response spectrum compatible with the target spectrum across the whole time
period range while preserving real velocity and displacement histories. The spectral
misfit, 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖−𝑖𝑖 , is defined as the difference between the target spectrum ordinate,
𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖 , and the ground motion spectrum ordinate, 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 , at a given period Ti and one
particular damping ratio. The equation for spectral misfit is given by [14]:
𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖 = 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖 − 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (1)
It is noted that although 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 and 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖 is defined as the absolute value, the
sign of the peak response can be positive or negative. Thus, the sign of 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖
should be adjusted accordingly to the sign of the peak response. By assuming that
the time of peak response 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 will not change due to adding a small adjustment to
the initial ground motion time series 𝑎𝑎(𝑡𝑡), the approach is to determine the
adjustment function time series, 𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿(𝑡𝑡), such that the response at 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 is the equal to
𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓−𝑖𝑖 . The adjustment function, 𝛿𝛿𝑎𝑎(𝑡𝑡), can be written as the summation over
the set of periods to be matched, j, of a set of wavelets, 𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡) that have already been
shifted appropriately in time (the corrected tapered cosine wavelet is used), and
multiplied by a scale factor bj.
𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿(𝑡𝑡) = ∑𝑁𝑁
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑏𝑏𝑗𝑗 𝜓𝜓𝑗𝑗 (𝑡𝑡) (2)
where N is the total number of spectral points to match. The acceleration
response, 𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 for an elastic oscillator with period Ti, subjected to the adjustment
function 𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿(𝑡𝑡), at time 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 , is given by
𝑡𝑡
𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 = ∫0 𝑖𝑖 𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿(𝜏𝜏)ℎ𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 − 𝜏𝜏)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (3)
where ℎ𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡), is the acceleration impulse response of SDOF oscillator with a
frequency 𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 , damping 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 , 𝜏𝜏, is the integration time parameter and period 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 .
Substituting Eq. (2) into Eq. (3) gives
𝑡𝑡
𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑁𝑁 𝑖𝑖
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑏𝑏𝑗𝑗 ∫0 𝜓𝜓𝑗𝑗 (𝜏𝜏)ℎ𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 − 𝜏𝜏)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (4)
The acceleration impulse response function, ℎ𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡), is given by
−𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖
ℎ𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡) = 𝑒𝑒 (−𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 𝜁𝜁𝜁𝜁) �(2𝜁𝜁 2 − 1) 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠�𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖, 𝑡𝑡� − 2𝜁𝜁�1 − 𝜁𝜁 2 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 (𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖, 𝑡𝑡)� (5)
�1−𝜁𝜁 2

𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 , is the angular frequency of period 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 , and 𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖, is the damped angular frequency of
period 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 . Define the acceleration amplitude of SDOF oscillator response with period
𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 , at time 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 , due to wavelet adjustment, 𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 , with period 𝑇𝑇𝑗𝑗 , as 𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ,
𝑡𝑡
𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = ∫0 𝑖𝑖 𝛹𝛹𝑗𝑗 (𝜏𝜏)ℎ𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 − 𝜏𝜏)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (6)
The 𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is one of the important variables here because it defines the amount that
the wavelet adjustment 𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 will affect the spectral ordinate for period 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 .
Furthermore, substituting Eq. (6) into Eq. (4) gives
𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑁𝑁
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑏𝑏𝑗𝑗 𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 (7)

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3108 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

This equation implicitly defines the change in the spectral ordinate at period 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖
due to all scaled wavelet 𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 . By letting the response of adjustment function at a
time 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 is equal to the spectra misfit 𝑆𝑆𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖 , then [14]:
𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑁𝑁
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑏𝑏𝑗𝑗 𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 (8)
For a spectral sensitivity matrix[𝐶𝐶], which element 𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 describes the
acceleration history at time peak 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 of single degree of freedom oscillator with
period 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 due to wavelet adjustment 𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 (𝑡𝑡) and period 𝑇𝑇𝑗𝑗 , Eq. (8) can be written as
�𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 � = [𝐶𝐶]{𝑏𝑏} (9)
The amplitude of each adjusting wavelet is determined by solving set of
simultaneous equations that account for the mutual correspondence of each wavelet
with each matched response period. In a matrix form given as:
{𝑏𝑏} = [𝐶𝐶]−1 �𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 � (10)
Using an iterative procedure, the spectral misfit can be minimized to match the
target spectra and the modified acceleration time series for each iteration can be
calculated as:
𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 (𝑡𝑡) = 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟−1 (𝑡𝑡) + ∑𝑁𝑁
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑏𝑏𝑗𝑗 𝜓𝜓𝑏𝑏 (𝑡𝑡) (11)
where r is the iteration number. The iteration continued until the desired accuracy of
the spectral match is achieved. Figure 1 shows a schematic flow diagram for the
concept of spectral matching in the time domain method.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram for

the spectral matching in the time domain [19].

2.2. Adjustment function

Wavelet analysis is becoming a powerful tool for analysing the localized variation of
energy within earthquake time histories. By decomposing the time histories into the
time-frequency domain, the dominant modes of variability and how the modes vary in

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

 Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3109

time can be determined. Wavelets were employed by using the response of an elastic
SDOF system to simultaneously match spectra with multiple damping ratios.
The first wavelet function adopted by Lilhanand and Tseng [18] involves the
true acceleration impulse response function given by:

𝜓𝜓𝑗𝑗 (𝑡𝑡) = ℎ𝑗𝑗 �𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 − 𝑡𝑡� = 𝑒𝑒 −𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 𝜁𝜁(𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 −𝑡𝑡) ��2𝜁𝜁𝑗𝑗2 − 1� 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 �𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 ́�𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 − 𝑡𝑡�� − 2𝜁𝜁𝑗𝑗 �1 − 𝜁𝜁𝑗𝑗2 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 (𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 ́�𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 − 𝑡𝑡�)� (12)

where 𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 is the time of the j, t, h oscillator peak response due to j, t, h wavelet action.
This wavelet form results in a symmetric [𝐶𝐶] matrix with sudden cut that assures the
peak response at time 𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 and prevent resonant with larger values.
For spectral matching approach, good solution is usually achieved by Lilhanand
and Tseng proposed algorithm0. On the other hand, this algorithm suffers from two
shortages. Firstly, the modifying wavelets adversely alter the resulting velocity and
displacement time series by introducing drift into the computed accelerogram
results. Secondly, when matching closely spaced periods the proposed algorithm
yield unstable results.
In order to correct the resulting velocity and displacement time histories after
adjustment, an improved tapered cosine wavelet was developed by Alatik and
Abrahamson [14] such that its functional form integrates to zero velocity and
displacement. The main advantage of the improved tapered cosine wavelet is that
its mathematical form integrates to zero velocity and displacement time histories
without requiring any baseline correction form. The corrected tapered cosine
wavelet can be described by:
2
(𝑡𝑡−𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 +𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 )
−� �
𝛾𝛾𝑗𝑗
𝜓𝜓𝑗𝑗 (𝑡𝑡) = 𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 (𝜔𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 �𝑡𝑡 − 𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 + 𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 �) (13)
where 𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 is the differences between the time of peak response with the reference
time of the wavelet (𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 ). The correction factor 𝛾𝛾𝑗𝑗 is a frequency-dependent coefficient
used to adjust the duration of the adjustment function. The 𝛾𝛾(𝑓𝑓) was developed to
ensure a smooth taper and lead to zero velocity and displacement at the end of the
wavelet. The adjustment at all frequencies, 𝛾𝛾(𝑓𝑓) is given by:
𝛾𝛾(𝑓𝑓) = 1.178𝑓𝑓 −0.93 (14)
The corrected tapered cosine wavelet lead to zero velocity and displacement
results when the wavelet has sufficient time duration to start and end with zero
value [14]. The minimum 𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 values required to prevent drift is described by
𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 3.9223𝑓𝑓 −0.845 (15)

3. Numerical Study
In this study, the 20-storeys base-isolated steel frame building shown in Fig. 2 is
modelled and analysed using ETABS software. The height of each story is 3.5 m
including the ground floor so the total height of the building is 70.0 m, with 25 m
in the x and y directions for the plane view. Therefore, the height to width ratio for
the building is 2.8 for both directions. The adopted building model includes steel
columns with HP14X73 section, the main steel beams are all W16X26 section,
whereas W10X12 and HSS6X6X1/2 sections are used for the secondary beams and
cross-bracing, respectively. Pinned connections are assigned for all cross-bracing

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3110 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

and secondary beams. The damping ratio of the superstructure is assumed 0.05. The
building analysed for dead load and 2.4 kN/m2 live load in addition to lateral load
due to seismic forces.

a) Plan view (b) 3D view

Fig. 2. Twenty story base isolate steel building model.

Seismic coefficients and factors for seismic force-resisting system for the steel
building are shown in Table 1. Values indicated were extracted form ASCE7-10
[20] according to Seismic Design Category (SDC), building height, and seismic
force-resisting structural system adopted for the building model. With the aim of
understanding of the second-order geometric P-Delta effect, the proposed building
is analyzed assuming fixed base for the first time and later using base isolation
technique. Table 2 shows material properties for the high damping rubber base
isolator adopted in this study. Values indicated were adopted according to
manufacturer of base isolator’s recommendation related to the values of the vertical
loads at the base of the building and the selected type of the base isolator.
Generally, earthquake analysis is performed in two ways using dynamic
analysis including both of response spectrum and time history. In the present case,
linear and geometric non-linear dynamic analysis study is carried out by generating
synthetic earthquake using time domain method by matching target response
spectrum generated with seismic coefficients shown in Table 3. Parameters and
coefficients shown in Table 3 were selected according to ASCE 7-10 [20] for site
class (D) and SDC (D) used in this study. As mentioned previously, synthetic time
series is generated by adjusting reference time series that consist of real records
from past available earthquakes. In this study reference time history of the N-S
component of 1940 El Centro earthquake is adopted as initial time series.
Spectral matching is based on the technique of adjusting the frequency content
of the reference time series so that its response spectra matches the design spectrum

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

 Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3111

at all time periods of interest. Hence, comparison of the frequency content of the
reference and adjusted time series using matching in the time domain is shown in
Fig. 3. It is obvious that the frequency amplitudes of the modified time series
preserves the common characteristics of the reference time series. Moreover, in Fig.
4 (C and D), it can be observed that the modified design spectrum and the target
spectrum matches each other over the complete range of time periods of interest.
In addition, comparison between initial and modified time series acceleration
records profile is presented in Fig. 4 (A and B), from which it can be observed that
the characteristics of the reference time series have been maintained.

Table 1. Seismic coefficients and factors for the steel frame building [20].
ASCE 7-10 Factors Value
Response modification (R) 8
Over strength 3
Deflection amplification 5.5
Occupancy importance (I) 1.25

Table 2. Base isolator properties [21].

Isolator Property Design Value
Vertical stiffness (kN/m) 1106000
Horizontal stiffness (kN/m) 960
Shear modulus (MPa) 0.6
Damping % >20
Dimension (mm) D=650
Max displacement (mm) 400

Table 3. Target response spectrum seismic coefficients [20].

Site SDC 𝐅𝐅𝐚𝐚 𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐒𝐌𝐌𝐌𝐌 𝐒𝐒𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃 𝐅𝐅𝐯𝐯 𝐒𝐒𝟏𝟏 𝐒𝐒𝐌𝐌𝐌𝐌 𝐒𝐒𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃
Class
D D 1.004 1.24 1.245 0.83 1.5 0.56 0.84 0.56

Fig. 3. Comparison of the frequency content

of the reference and matched time series.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3112 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

0.4
0.3 (A)
Acceleration, g 0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Time, sec
0.4
0.3 (B)
Acceleration, g

0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Time, sec

(C) (D)
Fig. 4. (A) Reference time history, (B) generated (C) reference response
spectrum, (D) matched response spectrum for synthetic time history.

4. Analysis Results
Figure 5 compares the base shear magnitude evaluated using linear and nonlinear
analyses for the base isolated building with those for the fixed base building.
Results for the El Centro earthquake and those for synthetic records matched to
target response spectrum are presented. The results reveal that base shear
magnitudes are substantially decreased for building with base isolation. The
maximum base shear including P-delta and base isolation effect for different
dynamic analyses are shown in Fig. 6 and Table 4. It is observed that P-delta effect,
generally, reduces maximum base shear with the maximum reduction in the base
shear values is less than about 5%. Clearly, it is observed from Fig. 6 that synthetic
time history analysis for base shear values agrees with the target response spectrum
for fixed base building, while for base isolated building response spectrum analysis
overestimate base shear. Comparing El Centro analysis results reveal that adopting

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

 Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3113

unmatched time history to target response spectrum may yield unrealistic analysis
results, especially for base isolated buildings.

3000
2000 (A) linear analysis
base shear (kN)

1000
0
-1000
-2000 fixed base
-3000 base isolated
-4000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
time(sec.)
3000
2000
base shear (kN)

(A) P-delta analysis

1000
0
-1000
-2000 fixed base
-3000 base isolated
-4000
0 1 2 3 4 5
time6(sec.) 7 8 9 10 11 12

3000
2000 (B) linear analysis
base shear (kN)

1000
0
-1000
-2000 Fixed base
base isolated
-3000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time (sec.)

3000
(B) P-delta analysis
2000
base shear (kN)

1000
0
-1000
fixed base
-2000
base isolated
-3000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time(sec.)

Fig. 5. Comparison of the base shear for (A) synthetic

earthquake and (B) El-Centro earthquake due to p-delta effect.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3114 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

3303
3117
2900 2810
2659
2496
Max. Base shear (kN)

2016 1922

1565 1525

662 589

Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA
RS EL centro Sythetic RS EL centro Sythetic
FIXED BASE BASE ISOLATED

Fig. 6. Comparison of the base shear (kN) for different analysis types.

Table 4. Effect of P-delta analysis on maximum base shear (kN).

Fixed-Base building Isolated-Base building
Analysis % %
Linear P-Δ Linear P-Δ
Type Difference Difference
analysis analysis analysis analysis
due to P-Δ due to P-Δ
Response
Spectrum, 2900 2810 -3.1 2016 1922 -4.66
RS
Time
History, El 2659 2496 -6.13 662 589 -11.03
Centro
Time
History, 3303 3117 -5.63 1565 1525 -2.55
Synthetic

As for building sway, Fig. 7 shows a comparison for maximum top story
displacement for the three methods of analysis and for the cases of fixed and isolated
base buildings. The results reveal that building sway substantially increased for
building with base isolation. The noticeable increase in the base isolated building
sway is due to concentration of the deformations in the isolator as shown in Table 5,
though the structure behaves as essentially rigid accompanied by smaller
deformations in the structure. Table 6 illustrates the influence of p-delta analysis on
the building sway for the fixed base and base isolated buildings. It is observed that
building story displacement increases due to P-delta effect with the maximum
increase in the top story displacement values are about 5% for RS analysis and about
2% for synthetic time history. As for base shear analysis results, it is observed that
synthetic time history analysis for maximum top story displacement is in close values

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

 Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3115

with those for target response spectrum for fixed base building, while for base isolated
building response spectrum analysis overestimate building sway.

166.4 174.8
Max. story Displecement (mm)

128.4 134.5
119.0 119.6
107.6 109.8

75.3 71.8
63.1 63.2

Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA
RS EL centro Sythetic RS EL centro Sythetic
FIXED BASE BASE ISOLATED

Fig. 7. Comparison of the maximum

story displacement (mm) for different analysis types.

Table 5. Clear top story displacement for base isolated building.

Time history, Time history,
Response spectrum
EL Centro Synthetic
Displacement
Linear P-Delta Linear P-Delta Linear P-Delta
Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis
Isolator Base
Displacement 60.583 61.135 19.234 17.636 48.425 48.434
(mm)
Top story
Displacement 166.40 174.84 63.14 63.17 119.05 119.65
(mm)
Clear Top
Story
105.817 113.705 43.906 45.534 70.625 71.216
Displacement
(mm)

Table 6. Effect of P-delta analysis on maximum story displacement (mm).

Fixed-Base building Isolated-Base building
Analysis % %
Linear P-Δ Linear P-Δ
Type Difference Difference
analysis analysis analysis analysis
due to P-Δ due to P-Δ
Response
Spectrum, 128.36 134.53 4.81 166.40 174.84 5.07
RS
Time
History, 75.33 71.81 -4.67 63.14 63.17 ----
El-Centro
Time
History, 107.6 109.84 2.08 119.05 119.65 0.51
Synthetic

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3116 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

The variation of story drift ratio due to time history analysis for the fixed and
isolated base buildings including the P-delta effect is shown in Fig. 8. It is evident
that story drift decreases significantly due to base isolation. Figure 9 illustrates a
comparison of maximum story drift due to different dynamic analyses. The effect
of p-delta analysis on the maximum story drift ratio for the two types of base
systems and dynamic analyses is presented in Table 7. Results presented show that
story drift ratio increases 3.27% due to p-delta effect for synthetic time history
analysis compared to 7.24% for matched response spectrum which reflects the
potential of synthetic time history analysis to sense the properties of these isolators
and capability to show their effect on the results of the analysis. This is confirmed
by the result that response spectrum analysis for story drifts are about 70% greater
than synthetic time history analysis for isolated base building

20 20

15 15
Fixed Fixed
Story number

Story Number
linear linear
10 10
Fixed P- Fixed P-
DELTA DELTA
5 5
Base base
isolated isolated
linear linear
0 0
0 0.001 0.002 0 0.001 0.002
Story Drift ratio Story Drift ratio
(A) Synthetic earthquake (B) El Centro earthquake

Fig. 8. Comparison of the story drift ratio for

(A) synthetic earthquake and (B) El Centro earthquake due to p-delta effect.

0.0025
0.0024
0.00217
Max. story Drift Ratio

0.0019 0.00202
0.0018 0.0018
0.0018
0.00126
0.00122
0.00066
0.00062

Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA Linear P-DELTA
RS EL centro Sythetic RS EL centro Sythetic
FIXED BASE BASE ISOLATED

Fig. 9. Comparison of the story drift ratio for different analysis types.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3117

Table 7. Effect of P-delta analysis on maximum story drift ratio.

Fixed-Base building Isolated-Base building
Analysis % %
Linear P-Δ Linear P-Δ
Type Differenc Differenc
analysi analysi analysi analysi
e due to e due to
s s s s
P-Δ P-Δ
Response
0.0024 0.0025 4.17 0.0020 0.0021 7.42
Spectrum
2 7
, RS
Time
History, 0.0018 0.0019 5.55 0.0006 0.0006 6.45
El- 2 6
Centro
Time
0.0018 0.0018 ---- 0.0012 0.0012 3.27
History,
2 6
Synthetic
Figure 10 shows a comparison of top story acceleration time history
variation for the base isolated building with those for the fixed base building
including P-delta effect. This figure reveals that top story acceleration values
substantially decreased by about 46% for building with base isolators compared
to fixed base one.
This result confirms the concept of protecting building by base isolators which
reduce the pseudo-acceleration and hence the earthquake-induced forces in the
structure. The effect of including p-delta analysis on maximum top story
acceleration values for the adopted time history analysis methods is presented in
Table 8. Results presented in the table show that including P-delta effect in the
analysis reduces maximum top story acceleration by about 2.78% for the base
isolated 20-story building investigated in this study.

Table 8. Effect of P-delta analysis on maximum top story acceleration (g).

Fixed-Base building Isolated-Base building

Analysis % %
Linear P-Δ Linear P-Δ
Type Differenc Differenc
analysi analysi analysi analysi
e due to e due to
s s s s
P-Δ P-Δ
Time
History,
0.1036 0.1010 -2.52 0.0810 0.0801 -1.13
El-
Centro
Time
History,
0.1183 0.1099 -7.06 0.0603 0.0586 -2.78
Syntheti
c

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3118 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

0.16
(A) linear
acceleration ,g 0.08

-0.08
fixed base
base isolated
-0.16
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time(sec.)

0.16
(A) P-delta analysis
0.08
acceleration ,g

-0.08
fixed base
base isolated
-0.16
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time(sec.)

0.16
(B) linear
0.08
acceleration ,g

-0.08
fixed base
base isolated
-0.16
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time(sec)

0.16
(B) P-delta analysis
0.08
acceleration ,g

0
-0.08
fixed base
-0.16
0 1 2 3 4 5time(sec.)
6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fig. 10. Comparison of the top story acceleration for (A) synthetic
earthquake and (B) El Centro earthquake due to p-delta effect.

5. Conclusions
Based on the results presented the following conclusions are drawn:
● The dynamic responses obtained by synthetic earthquake records agree well with
those obtained by the target site specific response spectrum especially for fixed

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3119

base building whereas response spectrum analysis, generally, overestimates

dynamic responses for base-isolated high-rise buildings.
● Results presented reflect the potential of synthetic time history analysis to
sense the properties of base isolators and capability to show their effect on
the results of the analysis.
● Applying unmatched time history records for dynamic analysis yields
unrealistic seismic responses for both fixed and isolated base high-rise
buildings as compared to target response spectrum.
● The base isolation technique significantly reduces the pseudo-acceleration
for design spectrum by about 46% and hence the earthquake-induced forces
in the structure and the resulting story drift.
● Geometric nonlinear analysis for base-isolated high-rise building revealed
that p-delta effect reduces base shear, and story acceleration by less than
about 5%, whereas story drift ratios increased by about 3% due to synthetic
time history analysis with spectral matching in the time domain.
● The increase in the base isolated building sway is due to the concentration of
the deformations in the isolator layer, though the structure behaves as
essentially rigid accompanied by smaller net deformations in the structure.

Acknowledgment
The authors wishes to thank the head and staff of the Civil Engineering
Department/College of Engineering at the University of Baghdad for their valuable
support to complete this work.

Nomenclatures
a(t) Time series acceleration, g
bj Amplitude of the adjustment function/wavelet function with
period Tj
Cij Element of spectra sensitivity matrix C
𝐹𝐹𝑎𝑎 Short-period site coefficient (at 0.2 sec-period)
𝐹𝐹𝑣𝑣 Long-period site coefficient (at 1.0 sec-period)
hi(t) Acceleration impulse response of SDOF oscillator with
frequency 𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 , damping 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖
r Pearson’s correlation of coefficient
𝑆𝑆1 Mapped MCER, 5 percent damped, spectral response
acceleration parameter at a period of 1 sec, g
Sai Ground motion spectrum ordinate at a given period Ti and one
particular damping ratio, g
Samisfit-i The ordinate difference between target spectra and acceleration
spectra at time period Ti , g
Satarget-i Target spectra at time period Ti , g
𝑆𝑆𝐷𝐷1 Design, 5 percent damped, spectral response acceleration
parameter at a period of 1 sec, g
𝑆𝑆𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 Design, 5 percent damped, spectral response acceleration
parameter at short periods, g
𝑆𝑆𝑀𝑀1 The MCER, 5 percent damped, spectral response acceleration
parameter at a period of 1 s adjusted for site class effects, g

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

3120 A. J. Abdulkareem and R. M. Abbas

𝑆𝑆𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 The MCER, 5 percent damped, spectral response acceleration

parameter at short periods adjusted for site class effects, g
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 Mapped MCER, 5 percent damped, spectral response
acceleration parameter at short periods, g
ti Time of peak response of oscillator, sec.

Greek Symbols
∆ti Difference between the time peak response tj and the wavelet
time axis
δa(t) Adjustment function time series that is added to the original time
series to match the target spectra
𝛿𝛿𝜓𝜓𝑖𝑖 Oscillator acceleration response of adjustment function δa(t) for
period Ti and damping ζ at time peak ti
ζ Damping ratio
ωi Angular frequency of period Ti, calculated as 2π / Ti, rad/sec
ω’ i Damped angular frequency of ωi, calculated as �1 − 𝜁𝜁 2 , rad/sec

Abbreviations
ASCE 7 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures
SDC Seismic design category
SDOF Single degree of freedom

References
1. Taranath, B.S. (2016). Tall building design steel, concrete, and composite
systems. CRC Press.
2. Wilson, E.L.; and Habibullah, A. (1987). Static and dynamic analysis of multi-
story buildings, including P-delta effects. Earthquake Spectra, 3, 289-298.
3. Zou, J.; Li, H.; and Sun, G. (2018). Analysis of influence factors of P-Δ effect
considering vertical ground motion, IOP Conference Series: Materials Science
and Engineering, 397, 7.
4. Pourzeynali, S.; and Zarif, M. (2008). Multi-objective optimization of
seismically isolated high-rise building structures using genetic algorithms.
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 311, 1141-1160.
5. Chan, R.W.; Lin, Y.S.; and Tagawa, H.A. (2019). Smart mechatronic base
isolation system using earthquake early warning. Soil Dynamics and
Earthquake Engineering,119, 299-307.
6. Kircher, C.A. (2013). Seismically isolated structures. FEMA P-752, NEHRP
Recommended Provisions Design Examples, 1-64.
7. Fahjan, Y.M. (2008). Selection and scaling of real earthquake accelerograms
to fit the Turkish design spectra. Teknik. 19(3), 4423-4444.
8. Shin, G.; and Song, O. (2016). A time-domain method to generate artificial
time history from a given reference response spectrum. Nuclear Engineering
and Technology, 48 (3), 831-839.
9. Adnan, A.; Marto, A.; and Irsyam, M. (2006). Development of synthetic time
histories at bedrock for Kuala Lumpur . Proceedings of the 6th Asia-Pacific
Structural. Engnieering and Construction Conference (APSEC 2006), Kuala
Lumpur, 34-37.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)

Geometric Nonlinear Time Domain Spectral Matching Seismic Analysis . . . . 3121

10. Fahjan, Y.M.; and Ozdemir, Z. (2008). Scaling of earthquake accelerograms for
non-linear dynamic analyses to match the earthquake design spectra. Proceeding
of the 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Beijing, China.
11. Al Zaidee, S.R.; and Al-Baghdady, H.A. (2009). Nondeterministic response of
base isolated buildings under seismic loads. Proccedings of The 6th
Engineering Conference, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad,Iraq.
12. Cancellara, D.; and De Angelis, F. (2019). Dynamic assessment of base
isolation systems for irregular in plan structures: Response spectrum analysis
vs nonlinear analysis. Composite Structures, 215, 98-115.
13. Liu, Y.; Kuang, J.S.; and Yuen, T.Y. (2020). Modal-based ground motion
selection procedure for nonlinear response time history analysis of high‐rise
buildings. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 49(1), 95-110.
14. Alatik L.; and Abrahamson, N. (2010). An improved method for nonstationary
spectral matching. Earthquake Spectra, 26, 601-617.
15. Lancieri, M.; Bazzurro, P.; and Scotti, O. (2018). Spectral matching in time
domain: A seismological and engineering analysis. Bulletin of the
Seismological Society of America, 108(4), 1972-1994.
16. Reyes, J.C.; Riaño, A.C.; Kalkan, E.; Quintero, O.A.; and Carlos, M. (2014).Is
time-domain spectrum matching procedure accurate and efficient for response
history analysis of buildings ?. Proceedings of the Second European
Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology. Istanbul, Turky.
17. Adekristi, A.; Leon, R.T.; and Rodriguez, M A. (2013). Algorithm for spectral
matching of earthquake ground motions using wavelets and broyden updating.
M. Sc., Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University.
18. Lilhanand, K.; and Tseng, W. (1987). Generation of synthetic time histories
compatible with multiple damping response spectra. Proccedings of the
international conference on structural mechanics in reactor technology.
Lausanne, Switzerland.
19. Habibullah, A. (2014). The theory and practice of performance-based: The
future of earthquake engineering design. Seminar at Asian Institute of
Technology, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit, Thailand.
20. ASCE 7-10. (2010). Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.
ASCE/SEI Standard, American Society of Civil Engineers.
21. DOSHIN. (2015). Technical information , High Damping Rubber Bearing.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology October 2020, Vol. 15(5)