The importance of strong-motion data in

engineering seismology and earthquake

engineering
Roberto PAOLUCCI
Department of Structural Engineering
Politecnico di Milano, ITALY

Outline

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Selection of real accelerograms based on

displacement-spectrum compatibility

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

A benchmark problem
Seismic response analysis of a diaphragm wall (Foti and Paolucci, 2012)

variable
variabile

60

30

10

10

60

bedrock

Points of control for acceleration

150 m

Roberto Paolucci

55 m

5 5 5 5

variable
variabile

10

Vs(z)

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Selection of input records for non-linear time-history analyses

Earthquake
Recording Station
Epicentral Distance
Component
Recording device
Uncorrected amax

Val Comino 7/5/1984 M5.9

Irpinia 23.11.1980 M6.9
Atina
Bagnoli Irpino
10.3 km
22.6 km
NS
NS
KINEMETRICS SMA-1 (analog) KINEMETRICS SMA-1 (analog)
2
2
101 cm/s
129 cm/s

Corrected acceleration time histories from:

1)
2)
3)

European Strong Motion Database

ITalian ACelerometric Archive
PEER strong motion database

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

ATINA NS record

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

ATINA NS record

ITACA pad-strip
procedure to safely
remove zero-padding
and ensure compatibility
of SM records

tapering + detrend on displacements

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Atina

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Bagnoli

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

10

Displacement time histories at top of the wall Atina record

2.5
ITACA

displacements [cm]

2.0

PEER
ESMDB

1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
0

6
time [s]

Roberto Paolucci

10

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

11

peak values of displacement and bending moment Atina record

peak displacement [m]
0.000
0

0.005

0.010

0.015

peak displacement [m]

0.020

0.025

-0.025

(a)

-0.020

-0.015

-0.010

-0.005

0.000

(b)

-2

-6
-8
itaca

-10

peer

-12

esmdb
end
confof
statica
excavation

-14
peak bending moment [kNm/m]
-400
0

-300

-200

-100

peak bending moment [kNm/m]

0

100

200

300

400

(b)

(a)
-2
-4

depth [m]

depth [m]

-4

-6
-8
-10

itaca
peer
esmdb
end
excavation
confof
statica

-12
-14

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Bending Moment
[kNm/m]

Atina

12

Displacement
[cm]

Left wall

Right wall

Left wall

Right wall

ITACA

-372.0

354.9

2.50

-2.05

PEER

-370.1

349.7

1.99

-2.06

ESMDB

-375.7

354.0

2.56

-1.90

Bending Moment
[kNm/m]

Bagnoli

Displacement
[cm]
Right
wall
Left wall

Left wall

Right wall

ITACA

-441.1

500.3

14.0

-12.6

PEER

-462.0

472.6

10.8

-11.7

ESMDB

-449.0

505.3

-54.6

-59.0

Roberto Paolucci

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

13

Summary
Consequences of processing procedure
Limited on bending moments
Relevant (20-30%) on displacements (important for PBD)

Differences observed on a relatively rigid system (conservative design with PS

approach of EC8). Likely higher effects on more flexible systems
Engineering rules to avoid gross errors in the use of real accelerograms used as input
motion for non-linear dynamic soil-structure interaction analyses:
do not manipulate the corrected record provided by the database;
prefer records corrected by acausal filtering;
prefer digital records;
check, before the numerical simulation, that velocities and displacements resulting
by integration of the input acceleration are not affected by unphysical drifts.

Roberto Paolucci

Outline

Influence of strong motion processing on numerical

simulations of soil-structure interaction problems

Selection of real accelerograms based on

displacement-spectrum compatibility

Roberto Paolucci

14

Selection of real accelerograms based on displacementspectrum compatibility

15

Introductory works at Politecnico from 2000 to 2010, for

characterization of long period ground motion

displacement spectra at long periods ( Faccioli et al., 2004)

Study on the reliability of long period spectral ordinates from digital
accelerograms ( Paolucci et al., 2008)
GMPE at long periods ( Cauzzi and Faccioli, 2008)
PSHA at long periods for Italian sites ( Faccioli and Villani, 2009)

Roberto Paolucci

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Reliability of long-period response spectral ordinates from digital accelerograms

Morge
Sep 8, 2005 Pennine Alps
(MW4.4, Re=17 km)

Zihuatanejo
Jan 11, 1997 Michoacn
(MW7.1, Re=143 km)

After Paolucci et al., 2008

"the elastic spectra from the most basic processing, in which only the pre-event
mean is removed from the acceleration time series, do not diverge from the
baseline-corrected spectra until periods of 1020 sec (...) Akkar and Boore (2009)
Roberto Paolucci

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Probabilistic seismic hazard studies in Italy

Seismic Hazard Map of Italy

(0 2 s)

DPC-INGV Project S1 2005-2007

http://esse1.mi.ingv.it

Roberto Paolucci

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Probabilistic seismic hazard studies in Italy

Long period PSHA in Italy: maps of D10

DPC-INGV Project S5 2005-2007

Faccioli and Villani, 2009
Roberto Paolucci

Probabilistic seismic hazard studies in Italy

Long period PSHA in Italy: map of TD

Roberto Paolucci

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Probabilistic seismic hazard studies in Italy

How to match short and long period PSHA results and put them in a
format for engineering applications ?
towards a target displacement spectrum for Italian sites (TDSI)

Roberto Paolucci

20

Selection of real accelerograms based on displacementspectrum compatibility

Joint research activity of Politecnico di Milano & Universit Federico II Napoli

Target displacement spectra for Italian sites

SIMBAD: a database for engineering analyses of long

period ground motion

Software REXEL-DISP v 1.1

Examples of application

Roberto Paolucci

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22

A Target Displacement Spectrum for Italian Sites

Broadband displacement spectrum for design, matching the Italian

NTC08 regulations at short periods with the long period PSHA
T TC

TC T TD

S D (T ) TD T TE

TE T TF

T TF

see NTC 08

2
TC T
a g S F0
2
T 4
D10 S Cc
D10 F D10 S Cc F
D10 F

TF T
TF TE

D10,TD from Project S5, while ag, , S, Cc, F0, TC, TE, TF come from NTC08
: factor introduced to match short and long
periods (=1 for constant velocity)
F: long period site factor (from S5 project)
Roberto Paolucci

4 2 D C T
10 c
log
log C
2
ag F0TD

TD

F 800 / VS 30

0.375

A Target Displacement Spectrum for Italian Sites

Italian norms NTC08

Long period PSHA

Connecting branch T-
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24

A Target Displacement Spectrum for Italian Sites

= 0.85 -1.4

Roberto Paolucci

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A Target Displacement Spectrum for Italian Sites

Comparison of TDSI with NTC08 (Italian seismic regulations)

TDSI

NTC08

MSD 0.025 amax F0 TC TD

d max d g 0.025 S a g TC TD
0.025 amax TC TD
Roberto Paolucci

MSD D10 S CC

F 800 / VS 30

0.375

d max D10 F

1.0 1.9

A: VS30 = 800 m/s; B: VS30 = 580 m/s; C/E:

VS30 = 270 m/s; D: VS30 = 140 m/s

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A Target Displacement Spectrum for Italian Sites

Site factors
NTC08

TDSI

Roberto Paolucci

Selection of real accelerograms based on displacementspectrum compatibility

Target displacement spectra for Italian sites

SIMBAD: a database for engineering analyses of long

period ground motion

Software REXEL-DISP v 1.1

Examples of application

Roberto Paolucci

31

EC8 Site classes

Worldwide regions

SIMBAD: Selected Input Motions for displacement-Based

Assessment and Design

Roberto Paolucci

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Selection of real accelerograms based on displacementspectrum compatibility

Target displacement spectra for Italian sites

SIMBAD: a database for engineering analyses of long

period ground motion

Software REXEL-DISP v 1.1

Examples of application

Roberto Paolucci

33

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Software REXEL-DISP v 1.1 (www.reluis.it)

available at http://www.reluis.it
Roberto Paolucci

Selection of real accelerograms based on displacementspectrum compatibility

Target displacement spectra for Italian sites

SIMBAD: a database for engineering analyses of long

period ground motion

Software REXEL-DISP v 1.1

Examples of application

Roberto Paolucci

35

36

Examples of application

Dependence on the target spectrum (NTC08 vs TDSI)

Aquila, TR = 475 years

avg 11 %, max 26 %
Roberto Paolucci

avg 6%, max 27 %

37

Examples of application

Dependence on seismicity level

(Aquila vs Udine, TR = 475 yr, TDSI)

avg 6% max 27 %
Roberto Paolucci

avg 9% max 28 %

Examples of application

Broadband compatibility
(Aquila, TR = 475 years, TDSI)

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Practical hints for using REXEL-DISP

Type of application

Hints

Search for 7 one- or twocomponent displacementspectrum compatible

accelerograms

Search for displacementspectrum compatible

individual records
Search for 30 displacementspectrum compatible
accelerograms

- preference to unscaled records

- use of wide magnitude and distance intervals (e.g., default values: 5-7
and 0-30 km) and any site class (due to the limited number of records on
some soil types in the SIMBAD database)
- ensure spectral matching over a rather broad range of vibration periods
(e.g., default values: 0.5-8 s)
- when searching for scaled records the use of limited magnitude and
distance range is found to be more feasible.
- preference to unscaled records
- use of wide magnitude and distance intervals (e.g., default values: 5-7
and 0-30 km) and any site class
- limit spectral compatibility to relatively small period ranges (e.g., 1-3 s)
- preference to unscaled records when selecting 30 one-component
records but the use of scale factors is advisable when searching for 30
two-component records.
- use of wide magnitude intervals (e.g., default values: 5-7) and any site
class
- ensure spectral matching over a rather broad range of vibration periods
(e.g., default values: 0.5-8 s)
- when searching for scaled records the use of limited magnitude and
distance range is found to be more feasible.

Roberto Paolucci

40

Concluding remarks

Why using spectral displacements as a target for ground motion selection?

the target magnitude range is naturally satisfied;

no need to scale accelerograms;

a broadband spectral compatibility is easily achieved ( NLTHA of
MDOF systems non-linear dynamic SSI soil stability problems)
... but ...
the accelerograms should be selected from high-quality strong-motion
databases, covering the seismic hazard levels and site conditions of
interest;
the target spectrum should be carefully defined based on seismic hazard
studies at long periods
Roberto Paolucci

41

Thank you !

Roberto Paolucci