A modal combination rule for spatially varying seismic motions

✍ Scribed by Mounir K. Berrah; Eduardo Kausel

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 481 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0098-8847
• DOI: 10.1002/eqe.4290220905

✦ Synopsis

The spatial variability of seismic ground motion is an important aspect for the earthquake resistant design of extended facilities. A modified response spectrum model, which addresses the problem of multiply supported structures subjected to imperfectly correlated seismic excitations, has already been developed (see References 1 and 2). The present paper proposes a modal combination rule for the case of non-uniform seismic input, which would be used together with the modified response spectrum model in order to compute physical responses. This rule, which accounts for modal cross-correlations, is an extension to an existing rule for the case of uniform seismic motions. It modifies the existing modal cross-correlation coefficients through a correction factor which depends on structural properties and on the characteristics of the wave propagation phenomenon. Finally, some practical considerations on the theoretical development are addressed. They aim at suggesting reasonable simplifications which render the modal combination rule more appealing for engineering purposes. The proposed practical combination rule is validated through a numerical experiment which also characterizes the effect of non-uniform seismic input on modal cross-correlation.