Earthquake

Engineering
Course Outcomes
• On completion of this course a student will be able to
1. Develop an insight into the causes for the occurrence of earth quakes,
characteristics of earth quake ground motion and how the strong motion
data help generating design earth quake motions.
2. Understand the importance of the structural configuration of buildings to
make it earth quake resistant and thereby mitigate the damages caused.
3. Apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering by developing
the equations of motion for vibratory systems and solving for the free and
forced response.
4. Analyze the response of a structure due to earth quake ground motion.
5. Practice guidelines for an efficient seismic resistant design and construction.
References
• 1. Agarwal, P. and Shrikhande, M.Earthquake Resistant Design of
Structures. Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2011.
• 2. Duggal. Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures. Oxford
University Press, 2013.
• 3. Park, R. and Paulay, T. Reinforced Concrete Structures. John Wiley.
1975.
• 4. Chopra, A. K. Dynamics of Structures. Pearson Education Pvt. Ltd,
2007.
• 5. Paz, M. Structural Dynamics: Theory and Computation. CBS
Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 2006.
Syllabus- Module 1
• Earthquake Ground Motion: Earthquake Ground Motion: Causes of
earthquake- Seismic waves-Intensity and Magnitude of earthquake-
seismic zones in India
• Strong motion-source effect-path effect-site effect-use of strong
motion data; strong motion characteristics
• Response spectrum-types of response spectra-design spectrum-
Damage potential of Earthquakes- Seismic Test Methods.
Introduction
• Seismology is the study of the generation, propagation and recording of
elastic waves in the earth, and the sources that produce them
• An earthquake is a sudden tremor or movement of the earth’s crust,
which originates naturally at or below the surface.
• The word natural is important here, since it excludes shock waves caused
by nuclear tests, man-made explosions, etc.
• About 90% of all earthquakes result from tectonic events, primarily
movements on the faults. The remaining is related to volcanism, collapse
of subterranean cavities or man-made effects.
• Tectonic earthquakes are triggered when the accumulated strain exceeds
the shearing strength of rocks
A list of natural and man-made
earthquake sources

*In seismology, a microseism is defined as a faint earth tremor

caused by natural phenomena
Plate tectonics
• The Earth’s outermost layer is fragmented into about 15 major slabs
called tectonic plates.
• These slabs form the lithosphere, which is comprised of the crust
(continental and oceanic) and the upper part of the mantle.
• Tectonic plates move very slowly relative to each other, typically a
few centimetres per year, but this still causes a huge amount of
deformation at the plate boundaries, which in turn results in
earthquakes.
EarthQuake
• Rocks are made of elastic material, and so elastic strain energy is stored
in them during the deformations that occur due to the gigantic tectonic
plate actions that occur in the Earth.
• But, the material contained in rocks is also very brittle. Thus, when the
rocks along a weak region in the Earth's Crust reach their strength, a
sudden movement takes place there opposite sides of the fault (a crack in
the rocks where movement has taken place) suddenly slip and release
the large elastic strain energy stored in the interface rocks.
• For example, the energy released during the 2001 Bhuj (India)
earthquake is about 400 times (or more) that released by the 1945 Atom
Bomb dropped on Hiroshima!
• The sudden slip at the fault causes the earthquake- a violent shaking
of the Earth when large elastic strain energy released spreads out
through seismic waves that travel through the body and along the
surface of the Earth.
• And, after the earthquake is over, the process of strain build-up at this
modified interface between the rocks starts all over again Earth
scientists know this as the Elastic Rebound Theory
The Earth and its Interior
• Long time ago, a large collection of material masses coalesced to form
the Earth.
• Large amount of heat was generated by this fusion, and slowly as the
Earth cooled down, the heavier and denser materials sank to the
center and the lighter ones rose to the top.
• The differentiated Earth consists of the Inner Core (radius ~1290km),
the Outer Core (thickness ~2200km), the Mantle (thickness ~
2900km) and the Crust (thickness ~5 to 40km).
• The Inner Core is solid and consists of heavy metals (e.g., nickel and
iron), while the Crust consists of light materials (e.g., basalts and
granites).
• The Outer Core is liquid in form and the Mantle has the ability to
flow.
• At the Core, the temperature is estimated to be ~2500°C, the
pressure ~4 million atmospheres and density -13.5 gm/cc; this is in
contrast to ~25°C, 1 atmosphere and 1.5 gm/cc on the surface of the
Earth.
The Circulations
• Convection currents develop in the viscous Mantle, because of prevailing high
temperature and pressure gradients between the Crust and the Core, like the
convective flow of water when heated in a beaker .
• The energy for the above circulations is derived from the heat produced from the
incessant decay of radioactive elements in the rocks throughout the Earth's interior.
• These convection currents result in a circulation of the earth's mass; hot molten lava
comes out and the cold rock mass goes into the Earth.
• The mass absorbed eventually melts under high temperature and pressure and
becomes a part of the Mantle, only to come out again from another location,
someday.
• Many such local circulations are taking place at different regions underneath the
Earth's surface, leading to different portions of the Earth undergoing different
directions of movements along the surface.
Plate Tectonics
• The convective flows of Mantle material cause the Crust and some
portion of the Mantle, to slide on the hot molten outer core. This
sliding of Earth's mass takes place in pieces called Tectonic Plates
• Four major scientific developments spurred the formulation of theory
of the plate tectonics.
• (i) Demonstration of the ruggedness in the form of oceanic ridges,
island arcs, trenches and youthness of the ocean floor.
• (ii) Confirmation of repeated reversals of the earth magnetic field in
the past and development of paleomagnetism.
• (iii) Emergence of the seafloor-spreading hypothesis and associated
recycling of oceanic crust. Hess (1962) first recognized the sea floor
spreading at the oceanic ridges.
• (iv) Precise documentation that the world’s earthquake and volcanic
activity is concentrated along oceanic trenches and submarine
mountain ranges.
contd
• There are three types of plate margins:
• (i) Constructive plate margin/Divergent boundaries—where new
crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other.
• (ii) Destructive plate margin/Convergent boundaries—where crust is
destroyed as one plate drives under another.
• (iii) Conservative plate margin/Transform boundaries—where crust is
neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past
each other
Divergent boundaries

• Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centres where plates are moving
apart and new crust is created by upward movement of molten magma .
• The well-known divergent boundary is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The rate of
spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge averages about 2.5 cm/yr.
• Divergence boundaries in continental regions are known as rift zones.
• The distribution of earthquakes defines a narrow band of seismic activity
close to the crest of an oceanic ridge and rift zone. The earthquakes occur at
shallow depths (2-8 km) and are mostly small.
• The occurrence of earthquake with magnitude greater than six is rare.
• The point is that the lithosphere is very thin and weak at divergence
boundaries, so the strain build up is not enough to cause large earthquakes
Schematic representation of
divergent boundary

Iceland, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rises above sea level.

Convergent boundaries
• The earth’s unchanging size implies that the crust must be destroyed at
about the same rate as it is being created at divergence boundaries, as
surmised in sea floor spreading hypothesis.
• Such destruction of crust takes place along convergent boundaries where
plates are moving toward each other, and one plate sinks under another.
• The location where sinking of a plate occurs is called subduction zone.
• Convergence can occur between an oceanic and a continental plate, or
between two oceanic plates, or between two continental plates.
• The ten largest earthquakes since 1900 on the globe have occurred along
the subduction zones, including the 26th December 2004 earthquake in
Indonesia which had triggered a massive tsunami
Oceanic-continental convergence
• If by magic we could pull a plug and drain the Pacific Ocean, we would see the
most amazing sight, a number of long narrow, curving trenches thousands of
kilometres long and 8 to 10 km deep cutting into the ocean floor.
• Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean floor and are created by subduction.
• At the oceanic-continent boundaries, oceanic plate subducts due to higher
density
• Strong, destructive earthquakes and the rapid uplift of mountain ranges towards
the side of overriding plate are common at the convergence boundaries.
• Oceanic - continental convergence also sustains many of the earth’s active
volcanoes on the side of overriding plate.
Oceanic-continental convergence
Oceanic-oceanic convergence
• When two oceanic plates converge, older one is usually subducted
under the other, and in the process a trench is formed.
• The Mariana’s Trench (paralleling the Mariana Islands), for example,
marks the location where the fast-moving Pacific Plate converges
against the slow moving Philippine Plate.
• Subduction processes in oceanic-oceanic plate convergence also
result in the formation of volcanoes. Such volcanoes are typically
strung out in chains called island arcs
Continental-continental
convergence
• The Himalayan mountain range dramatically demonstrates one of the
most visible and spectacular consequences of plate tectonics. When
two continents meet head-on, neither is subducted because the
continental rocks are relatively light and, like two colliding icebergs,
resist downward motion. Instead, the crust tends to buckle and be
pushed upward or sideways
• About 40 to 50 million years ago the boundary between Indian plate
and the Eurasian plate was oceanic-continental in nature and later on
it became continental-continental convergence after consumption of
the Tethys Sea
Schematic representation of
continental-continental
convergence.
Transform boundaries
• The zone between two plates sliding horizontally past one another is called a
transform-fault boundary, or simply a transform boundary
• The concept of transform fault originated with Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson,
who proposed that these large faults or fracture zones connect two spreading centres
(divergent plate boundaries) or, less commonly, trenches (convergent plate
boundaries).
• Most transform faults are found on the ocean floor.
• A few occur on land
• Eg: the San Andreas Fault zone in California.
• Along the transform boundaries, the earthquakes occur at shallow depth,
unaccompanied by volcanic activity. The friction between the plates can be so great
that very large strains can build up before they are periodically relieved by large
earthquakes
Schematic representation c
representation of transform
boundary

the San Andreas Fault zone in California

Terminology
• The point on the fault where slip starts is the Focus or
Hypocenter
• The point vertically above this on the surface of the
Earth is the Epicenter
• The depth of focus from the epicenter, called as Focal
Depth. Most of the damaging earthquakes have
shallow focus with focal depths less than about 70km.
• Distance from epicenter to any point of interest is
called epicentral distance.

30
31
Seismic Waves
• Seismic waves are classified into two groups:
• body waves, which travel through the earth in all directions and to all
depths, and
• surface waves, whose propagation is limited to a volume of rock within
a few seismic wavelengths of the earth’s surface.
• The uses and analysis methods for the two types of waves are
substantially different.
• Body waves are used for resource exploration purposes and for the
study of earthquakes.
• Surface waves are used to delineate the layered-earth structure.
Body Waves
• Two types of body waves exist: compressional waves (P) and shear
waves (S).
• P-waves are similar to sound waves. They obey all the physical laws of
the science of acoustics.
• The mass particle motion of a P-wave is in the direction of the
propagation of the wave.
• In addition, P-waves cause a momentary volume change in the
material through which they pass, but no concomitant momentary
shape change occurs in the material.
S waves
• S-waves, or shear waves, as they are commonly called, move in a direction
perpendicular to the direction of particle motion. Vertically and horizontally
polarised S-waves are known as SV-wave and SH-wave, respectively.
• They are sometimes called secondary waves because they travel more
slowly than P-waves in the same material.
• S-waves do not change the instantaneous volume of the materials through
which they pass, but as they pass through materials, they distort the
instantaneous shape of those materials.
• The velocity of S-wave is directly related to the shear strength of materials.
S-waves do not propagate through fluids as those do not have any shear
strength
Surface Waves
• A disturbance at the free surface of a medium propagates away from
its source partly as seismic surface waves.
• Surface waves, sometimes known as L-waves, are subdivided into
Rayleigh (LR) and Love waves (LQ).
• These surface waves are distinguished from each other by the type of
motion of particles on their wavefronts.
Rayleigh waves
• Lord Rayleigh (1885) described the propagation of Rayleigh wave
along the free surface of semi-infinite elastic half-space.
• In the homogeneous half-space, vertical and horizontal components
of particle motion are 90° out of phase in such a way that as the wave
propagates, the particle motion describes a retrograde ellipse in the
vertical plane, with its major axis vertical and minor axis in the
direction of wave propagation.
• The resulting particle motion can be regarded as a combination of P-
and SV-vibrations
• In the case of a layered and dissipative medium, the path is always elliptical but not
necessarily retrograde.
• Further, the axis of the ellipse may not be vertical and horizontal since the phase
difference between vertical and horizontal displacement can be different from 90°.
• The velocity of Rayleigh wave is very much dependent on the Poisson’s ratio and it is
equal to 0.9194 times to that of S-wave in the Poisson’s solid (Poisson’s ratio = 0.25).
• The particle displacement is not confined entirely to the surface of the medium but
the passes of the Rayleigh waves also displace the particle below the free surface up
to a depth equal to the wavelength.
• In a uniform half space, the amplitude of particle displacement decreases
exponentially with depth.
Love waves
• A.E.H. Love (1911) explained the mechanism of generation of Love waves in horizontal soil
layer overlying the half-space
• When the angle of reflection at the base of soil layer is more than the critical angle, SH-
waves are trapped in the soil layer.
• The constructive interference of reflected SH-waves from the top and bottom of the soil
layer generate horizontally travelling Love waves.
• The particle motion is in horizontal plane and transverse to the direction of wave
propagation.
• The velocity of Love wave lies between the velocity of S-wave in the soil layer and in the
half-space.
• The velocity of Love wave with short wavelength is close to the velocity S-wave in soil layer
and velocity of longer wavelength Love wave is close to the S-wave velocity in half-space.
• This dependence of velocity on wavelength is termed dispersion. Love waves are always
dispersive, because they can only propagate in a velocity-layered medium.
Intensity of earthquake
• Seismic intensity scale is a way of measuring or rating the effects of an
earthquake at different sites.
• The assignment of intensity of an earthquake does not require any
instrumental records.
• It depends very much on the acuity of the observer, and is in principle
subjective.
• Intensity to different places of an affected area can be assigned based
on visual observations and interviews of residents or based on
evaluation of questionnaires completed by residents of that area.
Importance
• Intensity data are very much useful for the development of seismic
risk map of a region or country.
• Seismic risk maps are useful in planning safe sites for important
structures like nuclear power plants or large dams.
• Risk maps are also valuable to insurance companies.
• Intensity data is also important in determination of historic seismicity
of a region.
 Types
• The Rossi-Forel intensity scale, developed in the late 19th century, have ten stages to
describe the earthquake effects in increasing order.
• Mercalli (1902) proposed an intensity scale in which earthquake severity was classified
in twelve stages
• . The Mercalli intensity scale was modified in 1931 to suit the building conditions in the
United States. The modified version is widely known as Modified Mercalli Intensity
(MMI) scale.
• The Medvedev-Spoonheuer-Karnik (MSK) intensity scale introduced in 1964 also has
twelve stages and differs from the MMI scale mainly in details.
• The MSK and MMI intensity scales are commonly used to seek information on the
severity of effects of an earthquake.
• Intensity ratings are expressed as Roman numerals.
• The intensity scale differs from the magnitude scale in that the effects of any one
earthquake vary greatly from place to place, so there may be many intensity values for
one earthquake.
MSK intensity scale
• In assigning the MSK intensity at a site due attention is paid to the
1. type of structures
2. percentage of damage to each type of structure and
3. grade of damage to different type of structures and
4. details of intensity scale
 Isoseismal Map
• A contour on a map bounding areas of equal intensity is an isoseismal and a map having different
isoseismals for a particular earthquake is an isoseismal map.
• The intensity is usually strongest near the earthquake epicentre and decreases with distance and at
large distance the earthquake is no longer felt by anyone.
• Other factors such as the local geology beneath a particular site, the regional geology and the
orientation of the earthquake fault can affect intensity.
• The numbers on the map represent relative shaking strength and can be qualitatively interpreted.
• Earthquake isoseismal maps provide valuable documents of macro-seismic effects of large
earthquakes.
• Isoseismal maps of past earthquakes help us to understand the nature of the earthquakes in a
particular region.
• Scientifically, it is still a far cry to predict an earthquake, and to be able to take effective steps for
minimizing the damage due to the same. So, in the absence of earthquake prediction, the use of
isoseismal map for long term planning and development of seismic zoning maps or seismic hazard
maps is the best approach
Magnitude
• Earthquake magnitude is a measure of the amount of energy released during
an earthquake.
• Depending on the size, nature, and location of an earthquake, seismologists
use different methods to estimate magnitude.
• Since magnitude is the representative of the earthquake itself, there is thus
only one magnitude per earthquake.
• But magnitude values given by different seismological observatories for an
event may vary.
• The uncertainty in an estimate of the magnitude is about ±0.3 unit.
• Seismologists often revise magnitude estimates as they obtain and analyze
additional data
Richter magnitude (ML)
• One of Dr. Charles F. Richter’s most valuable contributions was to
recognize that the seismic waves radiated by earthquakes could
provide good estimates of their magnitudes.
• Richter (1935) collected the recordings of seismic waves from a large
number of earthquakes and constructed a diagram of peak ground
motion versus distance (Figure).
• The logarithm of recorded amplitude was used due to enormous
variability in amplitude.
• Richter inferred that the larger the intrinsic energy of the earthquake,
the larger the amplitude of ground motion at a given distance.
contd
• The idea of a logarithmic earthquake magnitude scale struck into the
mind of Richter after analysing the roughly parallel curves generated by
different size earthquakes on the plot of log of the recorded amplitude
at various epicentral distances.
• The parallel nature of curves for different earthquakes suggested that a
single number could quantify the relative size of different earthquakes.
• He proposed zero magnitude for an earthquake that would produce a
record with amplitude of 1.0 mm at a distance of 100 km from the
epicentre on Wood-Anderson (WA) seismograph with 1.25 Hz natural
frequency and 2800 magnification factor.
• The logarithmic form of Richter magnitude scale (ML) is given a

• where A0 is the amplitude for zero magnitude earthquakes at different

epicentral distances and A is the recorded amplitude in mm.
• The zero magnitude amplitude can be computed for different
epicentral distances taking into account the effects of geometrical
spreading and absorption of considered wave.
• Magnitude is a measure of seismic energy released which, in turn, is
proportional to (A/T)2 , where A is the ground motion trace
amplitude, and T as the period of the considered wave.
• So, the general form of Richter magnitude scale based on
measurements of ground displacement amplitudes A of considered
wave with periods T is,

• where σ(Δ, h), distance correction factor at an epicentral distance ‘Δ’

and focal depth ‘h’. Cr is the regional source correction term to
account for azimuth dependent source directivity and Cs is the
station correction factor dependent on local site effects. (A/T) for
different periods are computed and maximum of them is used in the
magnitude computation.
Surface wave magnitude
• As more seismograph stations were installed around the world, it became apparent that the
method developed by Richter was strictly valid only for certain frequency and distance ranges.
• Further, at large epicentral distances, body waves are usually attenuated and scattered so that
the resulting motion is dominated by surface waves.
• On the other hand, the amplitude of surface waves, in case of deep focus earthquakes is too
small.
• So, in order to take advantage of the growing number of globally distributed seismograph
stations, new magnitude scales that are an extension of Richter’s original idea were developed.
• These include body-wave magnitude (mB) and surface-wave magnitude (Ms). Each is valid for a
particular period range and type of seismic wave.
• A commonly used equation for computing MS of a shallow focus (< 50 km) earthquake from
seismograph records between epicentral distances 20°< Δ < 160° is the following one proposed
by Bath (1966).
Ms = log10 (As/T)max + 1.66log10 Δ + 3.3
• Where As is the amplitude of the horizontal ground motion in ‘mm’ deduced from the surface
wave with period T (around 20 ± 2 seconds) and epicentral distance Δ is in degree
Body wave magnitude (m ) B

• Gutenberg (1945) developed body wave magnitude mB for teleseismic

body-waves such as P, PP and S in the period range 0.5 s to 12 s.
• It is based on theoretical amplitude calculations corrected for
geometric spreading and attenuation and then adjusted to empirical
observations from shallow and deep-focus earthquakes.
mB = log10(A/T)max + s(Δ, h)
• Gutenberg and Richter (1956) published a table with distance
correction factors s(Δ, h) for body waves, which enable magnitude
determinations. These distance correction factors are used when
ground motion trace amplitudes are measured in ‘μm’
Duration magnitude (MD)
• Analogue paper and tape recordings have a very limited dynamic range of
only about 40 dB and 60 dB, respectively.
• ML cannot be determined since these records are often clipped in case of
strong and near earthquakes.
• Therefore, alternative duration magnitude scale MD has been developed.
• Duration from the P-wave onset to the end of the coda (back-scattered
waves from numerous heterogeneities) is used in computations.
• Aki and Chouet (1975) reported that for a given local earthquake at
epicentral distances lesser than 100 km the total duration of a signal is
almost independent of distance, azimuth and property of materials along
the path. This allows development of duration magnitude scales without a
distance term
• a0 and a1 are constant and D is the duration in seconds. The values of
these constants vary region to region according to crustal structure,
scattering and attenuation conditions. They have to be determined
locally for a region with the help of available ML
Moment magnitude
• In case of large earthquakes, the various magnitude scales (ML, mB or
MS) based on maximum amplitude and period of body waves or
surface waves under estimate the energy released due to saturation.
• Recently, seismologists have developed a standard magnitude scale,
known as moment magnitude.
• Moment magnitude is calculated using moment released during an
earthquake rupture.
• The moment released depends on the physical dimension of the
rupture (A), shear strength of the rock (µ) and the average
displacement on the fault plane (d).
Energy Released in an Earthquake
 Seismic zones of India
• The Indian subcontinent has a history of devastating earthquakes. The major reason
for the high frequency and intensity of the earthquakes is that the Indian plate is
driving into Asia at a rate of approximately 47 mm/year.
• Geographical statistics of India show that almost 54% of the land is vulnerable to
earthquakes.
• The latest version of seismic zoning map of India given in the earthquake resistant
design code of India [IS 1893 (Part 1) 2002] assigns four levels of seismicity for India in
terms of zone factors.
• In other words, the earthquake zoning map of India divides India into 4 seismic zones
(Zone 2, 3, 4 and 5) unlike its previous version, which consisted of five or six zones for
the country.
• According to the present zoning map, Zone 5 expects the highest level of seismicity
whereas Zone 2 is associated with the lowest level of seismicity.
• The IS code follows a dual design philosophy: (a) under low probability or
extreme earthquake events (MCE) the structure damage should not result
in total collapse, and (b) under more frequently occurring earthquake
events, the structure should suffer only minor or moderate structural
damage.
• The specifications given in the design code (IS 1893: 2016) are not based
on detailed assessment of maximum ground acceleration in each zone
using a deterministic or probabilistic approach.
• Instead, each zone factor represents the effective period peak ground
accelerations that may be generated during the maximum considered
earthquake ground motion in that zone.
• Each zone indicates the effects of an earthquake at a particular place based
on the observations of the affected areas and can also be described using a
descriptive scale like the Modified Mercalli intensity scale or
the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale.
 Zone 5
• Zone 5 covers the areas with the highest risk of suffering earthquakes of
intensity MSK IX or greater. The IS code assigns a zone factor of 0.36 for Zone 5.
• Structural designers use this factor for earthquake resistant design of structures in
Zone 5.
• The zone factor of 0.36 (the maximum horizontal acceleration that can be
experienced by a structure) is indicative of effective (zero period) level earthquakes
in this zone.
• It is referred to as the Very High Damage Risk Zone.
• The regions of Kashmir, the Western and Central Himalayas, North and Middle
Bihar, the North-East Indian region, the Rann of Kutch and the Andaman and
Nicobar group of islands fall in this zone.
• Generally, the areas having trap rock or basaltic rock are prone to earthquakes.
Zone 4
• This zone is called the High Damage Risk Zone and covers areas liable
to MSK VIII. The IS code assigns a zone factor of 0.24 for Zone 4.
• Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim,
parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains (North Punjab, Chandigarh, Western
Uttar Pradesh, Terai, North Bengal, the Sundarbans) and the capital of
the country Delhi fall in Zone 4. In Maharashtra, the Patan
area (Koynanagar) is also in Zone 4. In Bihar the northern part of the
state in areas such as Raxaul, near the border of India and Nepal, is
also in Zone 4.
Zone 3
• This zone is classified as a Moderate Damage Risk Zone which is liable to MSK
VII. The IS code assigns a zone factor of 0.16 for Zone
3.Several megacities like Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar lie in this
zone.
Zone 2
• This region is liable to MSK VI 0or lower and is classified as the Low Damage Risk
Zone. The IS code assigns a zone factor of 0.10 for Zone 2.
Zone 1
• Since the current division of India into earthquake hazard zones does not use
Zone 1, no area of India is classed as Zone 1.Future changes in the classification
system may or may not return this zone to use.
• The Kerala state, part of Stable Continental Region (SCR) lies in seismic zone III ,
where the maximum expected MM scale intensity would correspond to VIII (M
~5.5)
 Strong Motion
• The facts are clear—we cannot prevent big, destructive earthquakes from occurring.
• These pose a continuing threat to lives and property in more than 55% of the area of
this country.
• However, it is possible to avoid the disastrous consequences of an earthquake and that
precisely is the objective of every seismic design code of practice.
• The seismic design codes are framed primarily with the objective of prevention of loss
of life.
• In order to meet this objective it is essential that the structures/constructed facilities
respond to the expected earthquake ground motions at the site in a designated
manner, which in turn depends on the nature of ground motion exciting the structure.
• Thus the reliability of achieving the life safety performance objective of any
constructed facility is governed by the most uncertain element in the chain—expected
ground motion.
• The strong motion studies are aimed at reducing the uncertainties in the specification
of expected earthquake ground motions for designing any structure.
• Vibrations of the earths surface is the net consequence of motions,
vertical as well as horizontal, caused by seismic waves that are
generated by energy released at each material point within the three
dimensional volume that ruptures at the fault
• These waves arrive at various instants of time, have different
amplitudes and carry different levels of energy
• Thus motion at any site on the ground is random in nature, its
amplitude and direction varying randomly with time
UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF
GROUND MOTIONS
• The complexity of earthquake ground motion is primarily due to three
factors:
• (i) the seismic waves generated at the time of earthquake fault
movement are not of a uniform character (source effect),
• (ii) as these waves pass through the earth on their way from the fault
to the project site, they are modified by the soil and rock media
through which they pass (path effect), and
• (iii) once the seismic waves reach the project site, they undergo
further modifications, which are dependent upon the characteristics
of the ground and soil at the site (local site effects)
Source Effect
• Earthquake is a manifestation of rapid release of stress waves during a
brittle rupture of rock mass along a geologic fault zone.
• The size and type of rupture has a significant influence on the nature of
ground motion.
• The size of the earthquake is proportional to the size of fault rupture area
which, in turn, is proportional to the total energy released—a measure of
the magnitude of the earthquake.
• The potential of a geologic fault to generate large earthquakes is estimated
from the past seismicity data.
• In general, a large magnitude earthquake (with large fault rupture area)
will result in a longer duration of shaking and vice versa
• These inferences about the characteristics of earthquake ground motions have
been drawn from the study of strong motion data recorded over the years.
• Nevertheless, the nature of the ground motion in the neighbourhood of fault
rupture (near-field say, within a radius of 20-60 km) is further influenced by the
movements along the fault, which are not accounted for in these inferences.
• Though existence of some of these effects had been postulated as early as
1985 ,those could not be verified for the lack of recorded strong motion data in
the near-field.
• With the deployment of dense arrays of strong motion recording instruments,
the database of quality strong motion records is building up which also includes
the near-field strong motion data from several recent earthquakes
• Analyses of the near-field strong motion data points to three distinct
effects described as follows:
• (i) Rupture directivity effect
• (ii) Fling effect
• iii) Hanging wall effect
Rupture directivity effect
• The rupture directivity effect is essentially a manifestation of Doppler’s
effect in seismic wave propagation and affects the ground motion in fault
parallel direction.
• This occurs when the velocity of rupture is close to the velocity of shear
waves in the rock mass near the source.
• The seismic waves observed at a site in the direction of fault rupture will
have higher frequency in comparison to the waves observed at an equally
spaced site in the direction away from the direction of fault rupture.
• In particular, the rupture directivity effect results in a large amplitude, short
duration pulse at the site in the direction of rupture and a small amplitude,
long duration pulse at the site in the direction opposite to the direction of
fault rupture.
Fling effect
• Some near-field strong motion data recorded on modern digital equipment
during the 1999 Turkey and Taiwan earthquakes show some permanent
ground displacement that occurs across a ruptured fault.
• This static displacement, termed fling step, occurs over a finite time interval
of several seconds as the fault slip is developed.
• The fling step involves a large, unidirectional velocity pulse to accommodate
this displacement in the slip-parallel direction and is not strongly coupled
with the rupture directivity pulse.
• In strike-slip faulting, the directivity pulse occurs on the strike-normal
component while the fling step occurs on the strike-parallel component.
• In dip-slip faulting both the fling step and the directivity pulse occur on the
strike-normal component
Dip slip faulting
• The feature of rupture directivity effect, that is most damaging to
structures is the large velocity pulse, which can lead to one yield reversal
with a large ductility demand.
• On the other hand, fling step affects the peak velocity and displacement
of ground motions.
• These near fault source effects, which comprise of brief and impulsive
ground motions, can not be adequately described in frequency domain
which characterizes a uniform distribution of energy throughout the
duration of motion.
• Thus the conventional characterization of design ground motion in the
form of response spectra needs to be augmented with a simplified
description of the near-source pulses in time domain.
• A simple characterization is indeed possible with the use of Peak
Horizontal Velocity (PHV), approximate period of the dominant pulse (Tv),
and the number of significant half-cycles of motion in the larger, fault-
normal direction
Hanging wall effect
• The hanging wall effect is primarily due to the proximity of much of
the fault to the sites on hanging wall side.
• It has been observed to have the most pronounced effect for periods
shorter than about 1 s, and at locations away from the top-edge of
the fault on the hanging wall side.
• The rupture directivity effect, on the other hand, is due to rupture
propagation and radiation pattern effects.
• It is more pronounced for periods longer than 1 s, and is
concentrated over the top edge of the fault.
contd
• The relationship between the rupture directivity effect and the hanging
wall effect is thus complementary both in the region of influence and the
affected period range, thereby increasing the degree of spatial variation
of strong ground motion around dipping faults
• Sites on the hanging wall of a dipping fault have closer proximity to the
fault as a whole than do the sites at the same closest distance on the foot
wall side, causing larger short period motions on the hanging wall than
on the foot wall.
• The hanging wall effect is observed to be the greatest in the closest
distance range of 8 to 18 km for periods of 0 to 0.6 s, and decreases to
unity at 5 s
Path Effect
• Although the total energy released during an earthquake is a constant
parameter for a particular seismic event the specific energy, which is
defined as the seismic energy per unit volume, decreases due to
advancing wavefront.
• This decrease is purely geometrical in nature as the volume of the
medium over which the total seismic energy is distributed increases
as the wavefront advances.
• When the earthquake energy is released from a fault below the
ground surface, body waves travel away from the source in all
directions.
• If we assume the rupture zone to be a point source, the wavefronts will
be spherical and it can be proved that the geometric attenuation will
cause the amplitude of the body waves to decrease at a rate of 1/r,
where r represents the radius of the wavefront.
• It has also been shown that the geometric attenuation of surface waves
occurs at a rate of 1/ r
• Thus the surface waves attenuate much more slowly than the body
waves, which also explains the fact that the ground motion at large
epicentral distances predominantly comprises surface wave.
• In addition to these geometric attenuation effects, the seismic waves
also experience an attenuation of amplitudes on account of the
dissipation of seismic energy due to material damping in the soil.
• A combination of both these effects represents the influence of path
effects on the nature of ground motion at a site.
Local site effect
• Significant differences in structural damage in basin as compared with
the surrounding exposed rocks, or even in the basin itself from place
to place, have been observed during earthquakes. The amplitude of
shaking in basin can be more than 10 times stronger than the
surrounding rocks.
• Other geological conditions, which affect amplitude and signal
duration, are topography (ridge, valley and slope variation) and the
lateral discontinuities.
• The historical references regarding earthquake damage due to local
site condition extend back to nearly 200 years (Wood, 1908; Reid,
1910).
• Mac Murdo (1924) noted that the buildings situated on the rock were
not much affected as those situated on the soil cover during Kutch
earthquake (1819).
• Recent examples regarding the intense effects of local site conditions
include Michoacan earthquake (1985) which caused only moderate
damage in the vicinity of its epicenter but caused heavy damage some
400 km away in the Mexico city (Dobry and Vacetic, 1987),
• damage caused by the Loma Prieta, California earthquake (1989) in the
city of San Francisco and Oakland (USGS, 1990) and damage pattern
observed during Bhuj earthquake of January 26, 2001 (Narayan et al.,
2002).
Basin/Soil Effects
• Study of different aspects of basin effects on the ground motion
characteristics needs special attention since most of urbanized areas
are generally settled along river valleys over young, soft, surficial soil
deposits.
Impedance contrast

• Seismic waves travel faster in hard rocks than in softer rocks and sediments.
• As the seismic waves pass from hard medium to soft medium, their celerity
decrease, so they must get bigger in amplitude to carry the same amount
of energy.
• If the effects of scattering and material damping are neglected, the
conservation of elastic wave energy requires that the flow of energy
(energy flux, ρVsv2) from depth to the ground surface be constant.
Therefore, with decrease in density (ρ) and S-wave velocity (VS) of the
medium, as waves approach the ground surface, the particle velocity (v),
must increase. Thus, shaking tends to be stronger at sites with softer soil
layers.
Resonance
• Tremendous increase in ground motion amplification occurs when
there is resonance of signal frequency with the fundamental
frequency or higher harmonics of the soil layer. Various spectral peaks
characterize resonance patterns. For one-layer 1D structures, this
relation is very simple:
 Basin edge
• Intense concentrations of damage parallel to the basin-edge had been
observed due to strong generation of surface waves near the edge, during
recent earthquakes (Northridge earthquake, 1994; Kobe earthquake, 1995
and Dinar earthquake, 1995).
• The conclusion that basin-edge induces strong surface waves had been
drawn in many studies by examining the phase and group velocities, polarity
and arrival azimuth (Bard and Bouchan, 1980 a, b 1985; Hatayama et al.,
1995; Kawase, 1996; Pitarka et al., 1998; Narayan, 2003a, 2004, 2005).
• Surface waves start generating near the edge of the basin when frequency
content in the body wave exceeds the fundamental frequency of the soil and
their amplitudes decrease with increase of edge-slope (Narayan, 2004, 2005).
Basement topography
• The focusing and defocusing effects caused by basement topography
are strongly dependent on the azimuth and angle of incidence of
waves. Seismic waves traveling upward from depth may be redirected
by subtle irregularities at geological interfaces, particularly the
basement topography. The effects of focusing and defocusing are
maximum for normal incidence of waves and it decreases with
increase of angle of incidence. Similarly, azimuth also affects the
focusing and defocusing effects. This effect reveals the importance of
considering not only the surficial soil layer but also the basement
topography for seismic microzonation
Trapping of waves
• The fundamental phenomenon responsible for the increase of
duration of motion over soft sediments is the trapping and multiple
reflections of seismic waves due to the large impedance contrast
between soft sediments and underlying bedrock. Sometimes, when a
wave enters a basin through its edge, it can become trapped within
the basin if post-critical incidence angles develop, causing total
internal reflection at the base of the layer. Waves that become
trapped in deep sedimentary basins can therefore be potentially very
damaging.
Lateral Discontinuity Effects
• There are numerous consistent macroseismic observations showing a
significant increase in intensity of damage in narrow zones located
along lateral discontinuities, i.e. areas where a softer material lies
besides a more rigid one.
• An amplitude amplification and local surface wave generation in the
softer medium and large differential motion caused by shorter
wavelength of the surface wave can explain the observed damage.
• In past, a number of field observations (Narayan and Rai, 2001) and
theoretical studies have reported significant increase of damage in the
narrow zone located along strong lateral discontinuities (Moczo and
Bard, 1993)
Effect of the Surface Topography
• It has often been reported after destructive earthquakes in hilly areas that buildings
located at hill tops suffer much more damage than those located at the base: examples
of such observations may be found in Levret et al., 1986 (Lambesc, France, 1909
earthquake), Siro, 1982 (Irpinia, Italy, 1980 earthquake), Celebi, 1987 (Chile, 1985
earthquake) and Narayan and Rai, 2001 (Chamoli, 1999 earthquake).
• There are also very strong instrumental evidences that surface topography considerably
affects the amplitude and frequency contents of ground motion (Pedensen et al.,
1994).
• A review of such instrumental studies and results may be found in Geli et al. (1988), Aki
(1988) and more recently in Faccioli (1991). The theoretical and numerical models have
also predicted a systematic amplification of ground motion at ridge crest (convex part)
and deamplification in valley (concave parts) of the surface topography (Kawase and Aki,
1990; Sanchez-Sesma, 1990; Faccioli, 1991; Narayan and Rao, 2003; Narayan, 2003b).
• Narayan and Rao (2003) reported surface wave generation near the top
of the ridge and their propagation towards the base of the ridge, in
addition to amplification of ground motion with elevation and slope of
the ridge using 2.5 D model (Narayan, 2001).
• Narayan (2003b) reported strong generation of surface waves for
weathering thickness more than one-eighth of wavelength. He reported
on the basis of the simulated results that damage to the built
environment may be maximum on the top of the ridge, if it is not
weathered.
• But, if the velocity of the weathered material is very less as compared to
the underlying rock formation, maximum damage may be more near the
base of the ridge, due to large amplitude and duration of the generated
surface waves s.
• Some of the findings of the above-mentioned studies are listed below.
• Ground motion amplification increases with ridge-slope.
• Maximum amplification (2π/φ times, where φ is the crest angle) occurs
at the crest of the triangular wedge type topography relative to the
base for wavelength comparable to width of the base.(Fig)
 Site Effect
• Incorporation of the site effects in ground motion estimation procedures is
aimed at reducing the uncertainty in the ground motion estimates as
measured by the standard error of the regression analysis and also to remove
the potential bias in median estimates.
• The site effects represent the local influences on the nature of ground motion
and include the local ground response, basin effects, and the surface
topography.
• The local ground response refers to the response of shallow geological
deposits to the vertically propagating body waves.
• The modelling should ideally involve the full soil profile up to the bed rock
level at the site but for deep alluvial deposits, reasonable estimates can usually
be obtained by considering the soil profile only up to a depth of 100–120 m
contd
• The basin effects correspond to the influence of two or three-dimensional extent
of the sedimentary basin structures on ground motions, including critical body
wave reflections and surface wave generation at basin edges
• The dividing line between the local ground response effects and the basin effects
is rather arbitrary and usually the local ground response effects refer to the one-
dimensional response of soil column and basin effects are considered account for
the observed ground motion characteristics that deviate from the predictions of
one-dimensional analysis.
• The presence of ridges and valleys at the site can also have some influence on the
nature of ground motion.
• An approximate estimate of these effects for certain cases of ridge-valley terrain
is possible by using analytical solutions for some idealized geometries.
• The effect of soil layer on the nature of surface ground motion can be
divided into two principal components:
(i) the predominant period of surface ground motion, and
(ii) spectral amplification with respect to the bed rock motion.
• These effects may be studied by analyzing the recorded strong motion
data after eliminating the source and path effects from the strong
motion recordings.
• Two different approaches have been adopted to achieve this end:
(i) by comparing the strong motion recorded on soil site with motions
from a reference site (usually rock) and
(ii) without using any reference site recordings
Reference Site Approach
• If a reference site can be found in the close vicinity of the soil site then
the motions at both sites are expected to have similar source and path
effects.
• Thus a comparison of the two motions provides an estimate of the local
site effect.
• In practice ratios of either response spectra, or (smoothed) Fourier
spectra of the motions recorded at soil site and the reference site is taken
to be a representative of the transfer function of the soil column at the
site.
• The predominant period and amplification factor can be estimated from
the location and amplitude of peaks of derived transfer functions.
Non-reference Site Approach
• Since the availability of a rocky outcrop in the close vicinity of the site can not
always be guaranteed, a few approaches have been proposed for estimation of
site effects, which do not require availability of reference site data.
• A very popular approach is to take the ratio of the spectrum of horizontal
component of motion with respect to the spectrum of the vertical component of
the motion (termed as H/V ratio) at the same site.
• This spectral ratio is considered as the transfer function of the site.
• The ease of applicability of this approach has lured many to adopt this approach
in site characterization studies. However, it has been shown that the estimates
(predominant period and amplification factors) predicted by H/V ratios are not
stable for the same site using different records .
• Yet another non-reference site approach involves normalization of the spectra of
recorded motions by a reference spectrum for rocky site obtained from some
attenuation relationships
• Since the data from large, strong earthquakes in near-field region of
intense motions is quite sparse, the use of micro tremor data and/or
records from small, frequent earthquakes has been proposed to study
the site effects
• Unfortunately, the behaviour of soil column during strong motions
generated by large, strong earthquakes differs substantially from that
during small earthquakes (weak motions).
• In particular, the large strain levels associated with the strong motions
during large earthquakes force the soil to respond non-linearly as
against an essentially linear response during small strain weak motions.
• It has been shown in several studies in different regions of the world
that site effects estimated by using weak motion records, or the micro
tremor data do not correlate well with the observed behaviour of the
soil during strong earthquakes
Use of strong motion data
• The strong motion studies were taken up in India in 1976 on the
recommendations of the planning commission.
• Two types of strong motion recording instruments namely, Roorkee
Earthquake School Accelerograph (RESA) and the Structural Response
Recorders (SRR) were designed and fabricated at the Department of
Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
• Today, the department maintains a network of over 200 accelerographs
and 350 SRRs in the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan belt
• The data recorded by this network of strong motion instruments has
been of immense help in development of the standard spectral shape in
the recent revision of the seismic design code IS-1893
• The analysis of data recorded by this network will aid in the
development of a more rational basis for design of underground
facilities. The strong motion data recorded by this network, will also
allow studies on the effect of topography, and basin structure.
• In addition to the free-field earthquake recording instruments, the
department also maintains networks of accelerometers in several
high-rise buildings in different parts of the country
• Strong motion data helps in developing a better understanding of
I. ground response near fault ruptures of large earthquakes,
II. effects of severe shaking on different sub-surface structures and geologic
materials, and
III. ground response in areas that are prone to liquefaction.
• Analysis of strong motion records also leads to the development of improved
methods for generating artificial earthquake motions for regions where the data
from real earthquakes are not available
• The data recorded by the network of instruments in high-rise buildings can be
used for deriving information for remote monitoring of the health of the
building, the locations and extent of repair works required, and to verify
adequacy of the analytical modeling and design guidelines.
• The strong motion data as recorded by the strong motion instruments, however,
are not directly useful for strong motion studies. The raw data has to be first
processed and corrected for various possible sources of errors which might have
crept in during the process of recording
Strong motion characteristics

• The characteristics of strong motion in the vicinity of causative fault

(near field) is strongly dependent on the nature of faulting.
• The motion depends on source parameters such as fault shape, its
area, maximum fault dislocation, complexity of slipping process, stress
drop and the distance of fault plane from the ground surface.
• The elastic properties of the material through which the generated
seismic waves travel also influence the strong motion characteristics.
A component trace of acceleration is known as accelerogram.
• An accelerogram is a time history of acceleration composed of non-
periodic sequences of acceleration pulses
• The earthquake ground acceleration is a random function of time and
thus its instantaneous value can not be predicted in deterministic
sense. However, the unpredictable fluctuations show some degree of
statistical regularity. This makes it possible to describe instantaneous
value within a specified range.
• The area under the acceleration pulse is a measure of vibrations
transmitted to the structure with foundation on the ground.
• The amplitude of the pulse is often taken as a measure of severity of
ground shaking which could be termed as satisfactory if the duration of
all pulses are similar.
• However, an accelerogram is generally composed of pulses of various
durations.
• Thus not only peak of amplitude but also frequency content of the
record is necessary in characterization of accelerogram.
• The temporal evolution of an accelerogram is composed of three parts viz. rise,
strong motion and decay.
• The effect of ground shaking is mostly dependent on duration of strong motion
part.
• The accelerogram is rich in high frequencies near the causative faults. The high
frequency components attenuate faster than the low frequency components,
therefore the contribution of high frequency components is reduced in the
accelerograms recorded at large distances from the fault.
• Further, the amplitude of ground acceleration decreases with increasing distance
from the causative faults.
• Moreover, the vertical component of the ground acceleration is richer in high
frequencies than the two horizontal components at a recording station
• Figures 4.3 and 4.4 show the three orthogonal components of the
motion recorded at Uttarkashi and Karnaprayag during the Uttarkashi
earthquake. The epicentral distance of Karnaprayag is greater than that
of Uttarkashi and this difference shows up in the ground motion
characteristics at the two locations.
• The ground velocity and displacement can be obtained by direct
integration of an accelerogram.
• For an analog accelerogram, integrated record to obtain velocity and
displacement is an approximate one, as the initial conditions at trigger
of accelerograph are not known.
• For engineering purposes, the ground acceleration is the most
significant parameter of strong motion, being directly proportional to
the inertia force imposed on the structures
• The ground velocity is better correlated with the intensity of damage
and it is also directly related with the energy transmitted to the
structures.
• The ground displacement, however, is important for design of
underground pipelines and is also an indicator of the amount of strain
the foundation of a large structure will be subjected to
Peak Acceleration
• The Peak Horizontal Acceleration (PHA) is the most commonly used measure of
the intensity of shaking at a site and is taken to be the largest absolute value of the
horizontal acceleration recorded at a site.
• It is also possible to extract the maximum of the vector sum of two orthogonal
components of the horizontal ground acceleration recorded at a site.
• Ground motions with high peak accelerations are usually, but not always, more
damaging than those with lower peak acceleration.
• However, a short duration stray pulse with large amplitude may not cause any
significant damage as there is very little time available for the system to respond
to such excitation.
• Therefore, the duration of the excitation is also an important consideration in
estimating the damage potential of a ground motion.
• Fourier Spectrum :The frequency content (distribution of energy with
respect to frequencies) of an accelerogram is represented by Fourier
Spectrum.

• Power Spectrum: The power spectrum is an alternate representation

of the frequency content of a time history
Response Spectra
• 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
• 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
• 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.
 Response Spectra
• Response spectra are very useful tools of earthquake engineering for analyzing the
performance of structures.
• Thus, if you can find out the natural frequency of the structure, then the peak response
of the building can be estimated by reading the value from the ground response
spectrum for the appropriate frequency.
• The combined influence of the amplitude of ground accelerations, their frequency
content and the duration of the ground shaking on different structures is represented by
means of response spectrum
• A plot showing the maximum response induced by ground motion in single degree of
freedom oscillators of different fundamental time periods having same damping is known
as response spectrum.
• The method involves the calculation of only the maximum values of the displacements
and member forces in each mode of vibration using smooth design spectra that are the
average of several earthquake motions.
• The maximum response could be spectral acceleration, spectral velocity
or spectral displacement.
• The shape of response spectrum and location of peaks are controlled by
characteristics of site condition (soil/rock) at the location of
measurement, magnitude of earthquake, distance, etc.
• It is seen that in general, the motion on rock contains more short period
content of motion compared to that in soil.
• Similarly, the response spectra from a low magnitude event recorded at
closer distances will be rich in small period or high frequency
components compared to a large magnitude event recorded at farther
distances.
Factor Influencing Response Spectra
• The response spectral values depends upon the following parameters,
I) Energy release mechanism
II) Epicentral distance
III) Focal depth
IV) Soil condition
V) Richter magnitude
VI) Damping in the system
VII) Time period of the system
RESPONSE SPECTRA
• Earthquake engineers prefer to report interaction between ground acceleration
and structural systems through response spectrum as popularised by Housner
• It reflects frequency content, amplitude of ground motion and effect of
subsequent filtering by the structure.
• Acceleration spectrum is a plot of natural period of vibration of a single degree
of freedom (SDOF) oscillator with a specific value of damping versus peak
absolute acceleration of oscillator mass when subjected to a base acceleration
equal to the earthquake accelerogram (i.e., ground acceleration).
• The value of the spectral acceleration at zero periods, known as zero period
acceleration (ZPA), is the PGA because oscillator is composed of infinitely stiff
linear spring.
• The relative displacement response spectrum asymptotically approaches
maximum ground displacement for highly flexible structure.
• This implies that the mass remains stationary for all practical purposes
and only the ground moves as the linear elastic SDOF system is
composed of spring with negligible stiffness.
• In-between the two extremes period, the value of spectral acceleration
at a particular period is a constant multiplier, known as amplification
factor, of peak ground acceleration.
• The amplification factor at short-period increases with increase of period
and reaches a maximum at the sub-soil period and then it decreases with
increase of period in general.
• The amplification factor for rocky site condition is higher than that of
alluvium site condition at short periods and vice versa at long-periods.
• The amplification factor reduces with increase of hypocentral distance
from the site and peak amplification occurs at longer period
• In general, the acceleration response spectrum associated with a
specific time-history recorded at a given location has a jagged shape
with significant peaks and valleys.
• The response spectrum for another ground motion recorded at the
same site during a different earthquake will exhibit also an irregular
shape, but the peaks and valleys will not necessarily coincide with those
in the previous one.
• Therefore, appropriately smoothed spectra are usually defined for
design and evaluation purposes. These spectra are termed design
response spectra.
• They do not represent the particular acceleration response from a single
ground motion time-history, but rather they are intended to be more
representative of general characteristics for a reasonable range of
expected ground motions at a given site
• 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.
• 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
• 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
• 1984 code provided slightly different design spectrum for two
methods
• – Seismic Coefficient Method (static method), and
• – Response Spectrum Method (dynamic method)
• It was confusing to use two different sets of terminology for two
methods. Present code provides same design spectrum irrespective of
whether static or dynamic method is used.
• 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.
DESIGN SPECTRUM
• The design response spectrum is a smooth response spectrum specifying level of
seismic resistance required for design.
• Thus the design spectrum is a specification of the required strength of structure.
The strength is frequency dependent and also dependent on maximum velocity,
maximum displacement and maximum acceleration in various ranges of
frequencies.
• Three straight lines bound the general shape of the smooth spectra on a
logarithmic tripartite graph as shown in Figure
• At low frequency range the spectral displacement Sd = maximum ground
displacement d; and in the high frequency range, the spectral acceleration Sa =
maximum ground acceleration a.
• As we proceed from low to high frequency, there exist five different regions. T
• In earthquake codes, a 5% damping ratio is considered significant
because it represents a standard value used to calculate the seismic
response of most typical buildings, providing a consistent basis for
design calculations, as most conventional structures exhibit damping
properties close to this 5% level, allowing engineers to readily
compare design values across different structures; essentially acting
as a reference point for evaluating earthquake resistance based on
response spectra generated with this damping assumption
Damage Potential of Earthquakes
• The potential of an earthquake to inflict damage on engineered facilities has
always been a matter of great concern to all engineers.
• Very often a situation is encountered wherein one is forced to choose
between several alternative ground motion time histories to verify the
adequacy of a particular design to resist the design level earthquake motion.
• Since the design earthquake loads are usually specified in the form of design
spectra, artificial/synthetic accelerograms are generated so as to be
compatible with the design specifications.
• However, the solution to the problem of synthesizing a spectrum compatible
accelerogram is not unique and it is possible to have several different synthetic
accelerograms which are compatible with the specified design spectrum.
contd
• Thus it is desirable to use that time history which has the maximum potential
for damage.
• It is therefore necessary to derive a set of parameters derived from
earthquake records that may be considered as measures of the severity of
ground shaking at the site.
• Further, the correlation between three orthogonal components of the ground
acceleration vector at a location is assumed to be negligible in seismic analysis.
• However, the recorded components are generally correlated which may
introduce some bias in the analysis results.
• To eliminate these correlation effects, the resolution of the ground motion
components along the principal direction has been suggested in the past