Outline of Draft Procedures Time History Record Selection and Modification

1. Seven sets (each set containing 2 horizontal and one vertical) of spectrally matched time
history records are needed for each design response spectrum at the lower OBE level
and the upper MCE level.
2. Each seed time history record shall be a historically recorded time history.
3. Seed time history record shall be selected considering the following factors:

a. Distance (R) from the rupture of the recorded event shall be within ±15% of the
design distance on a log scale or within ±10km, whichever is larger. This means

Rmin < R < Rmax

Rmin = 10[log(R) - 0.15log(R)]; if (R – Rmin) < 10km, Rmin = R – 10km ≥ 0km

Rmax = 10[log(R) + 0.15log(R)]; if (Rmax – R) < 10km, Rmax = R + 10km

b. Site condition shall be within one Site Class (i.e., Sites A-C, may be used for Site
B motions).
c. Magnitude of the recorded event shall be within ±0.5M of the design earthquake
except for large events (>7.4), it shall be within ±0.8M.
d. Spectral shape.
e. Fault mechanism.
f. Rupture directivity and near-source effects for the MCE level spectrum.

4. For the MCE level and for locations close to faults (within 25 km), time history records
containing rupture directivity and near source effects shall be given priority over other
factors. For the inclusion of forward directivity dynamic effects in selecting seed time
history records, PGV and period of the pulse shall be estimated based on Bray et al.
(2009 1) and Baker (2007 2). The seed time history record with velocity pulse shall have
at least one but no more than three pulses in the record.
5. For sites within 3 km of an active fault with Mmax of 6.8 or higher, fling effects shall be
considered in the time history analysis. Fling effect is defined by permanent
displacement in the direction parallel to the fault. Accounting for fling effects will require
estimating permanent displacement and then incorporating that displacement into the
time history. Permanent displacements should be estimated using Petersen et al.
(2011 3) and can be incorporated in the time history per Kalkan and Kunnath (2006 4).

1
Bray, J.D., Rodriguez-Marek, A., and Gillie, J.L. (2009), “Design Ground Motions Near Active Faults,” Bulletin of the
New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 42, No. 1.
2
Baker, J.W. (2007), “Quantitative Classification of Near-Fault Ground Motions Using Wavelet Analysis,” Bulletin of
Seismological Society of America, Vol. 97, No. 5, pp. 1486-1501.
3
Petersen, M.D., Dawson, T.E., Chen, R., Cao, T., Wills, C.J., Schwartz, D.P., and Frankel, A.D. (2011), “Fault
Displacement Hazard for Strike Slip Faults,” Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 805-
825.
4
Kalkan, E. and Kunnath, S.K. (2006), “Effects of Fling Effect and Forward Directivity on Seismic Response of
Buildings,” Earthquake Spectra, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 367-390.
6. Time history records shall be selected using the time history records from the Pacific
Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center Ground Motion Database available at
the website: http://peer.berkeley.edu/peer_ground_motion_database. If appropriate time
history records are not available at this web site, records from more recent earthquakes
shall be considered.
7. For near-fault regions (within 25 km) and for the level MCE, selected seed time history
records shall be rotated to major and minor principal directions based on the peak
ground displacement (PGD) and shall be matched to the fault normal (FN) and fault
parallel (FP) spectra, respectively. The major and minor principal directions are the
directions of the maximum and minimum ground motions and have been assumed to
represent the FN and FP directions, respectively. This is an appropriate assumption
based on the fact that we are using Caltrans near source factors, which are approximate
values, to develop FN and FP spectra.
8. The number of seed time histories with velocities pulses shall be estimated based on the
likelihood of a pulse occurring. As a first estimate for the MCE level spectrum in those
areas where directivity and near-source effects are important considerations, check
epsilon (ε) values for the deaggregated magnitude-distance pairs from the USGS web
site. If the ε is less than 2, selected seed time history records shall consist of three
records having forward directivity effects, two having backward directivity effects, and
two neutral records. If the ε is equal to or greater than 2, then five time history records
shall consist of having forward directivity effects.
9. No near-source or rupture directivity effects need to be considered in selecting the seed
time history records for the lower level OBE. In addition, for the OBE, two orthogonal
horizontal seed time history records shall be spectrally matched with the same horizontal
spectrum. It should be noted that time history records are matched with 3 percent
damped spectra for the OBE level.
10. If more than one magnitude and distance pairs are controlling the different periods of
design uniform hazard spectrum, use one of the two criteria listed below
a. For sites more than 25 km away from an active fault, at least two seed time
history records shall be selected for each controlling magnitude-distance pair and
most of the records shall represent the most dominant magnitude-distance pair.
b. For sites within 25 km of an active fault, seed time histories shall be selected
based on the relevant contributions of the magnitude-distance pairs.
11. If more than one fault mechanisms are controlling the response, seed time history
records shall consist of at least two records representing each fault mechanism.
12. To preserve the velocity pulses, time history records, with forward directivity dynamic
effects, shall be matched in such a way that the response spectrum of the modified
individual time history record shall be within ±30% and average of the seven pairs of
time history records shall be within ±10% of the target uniform hazard spectrum between
the periods of 0.2 and 4 seconds. All other time history records shall be matched in
such a way that the response spectrum of the modified individual time history record
shall be within ±20% and average of the seven pairs of time history records shall be
within ±5% of the target uniform hazard spectrum between the periods of 0.2 and 4
seconds.
 13. Seed time history records shall be amplitude-scaled to the target PGA once before
spectral matching.
14. Computer program RSPMatch09 (Al Atik and Abrahamson, 2010 5) and the associated
methodology shall be used for spectral matching in such a way that non-stationary
characteristics of the original seed time history record shall be preserved. Spectral
matching shall first be performed for high frequencies, then for progressively lower
frequency ranges for subsequent passes. The frequency ranges should be 100, 1, 0.5,
0.3, and 0.2 Hz.
15. Spectrally matched time history records shall be baseline corrected after spectral
matching is completed. After baseline correction is performed, the time histories shall be
checked again for compliance with tolerances with respect to fidelity to the target
spectrum. Additional spectral matching after baseline correction shall be performed, if
necessary.
16. After spectral matching, Arias Intensity (Ia) and significant duration (D5-95) of the time
history records shall be calculated and checked against estimates of these parameters
based on relations such as Travasarou et al. (2003 6) for Ia and Kempton and Stewart
(2006 7) for D5-95. In addition, for time histories with forward directivity velocity pulses,
PGV and period of the pulse shall be calculated and checked against the estimate of
these parameters based on Bray et al. (2009) and Baker (2007).
17. Original and spectrally matched acceleration, velocity, and displacement time history
records, their response spectra, and Arias Intensity (Husid) plots shall be provided in
graphical format as well as in digital format.

5
Al Atik, L. and Abrahamson, N.A. (2010), “An Improved Method of Nonstationary Spectral Matching,” Earthquake
Spectra, Vol. 26, No. 3, p. 601-617, August.
6
Travasarou, T., Bray, J.D., and Abrahamson, N.A. (2003), “Empirical Attenuation Relationship for Arias Intensity,”
Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, Vol. 32, No. 7, pp. 1133-1155.
7
Kempton, J.J. and Stewart, J.P. (2006), “Prediction Equations for Significant Duration of Earthquake Ground
Motions Considering Site and Near-Source Effects,” Earthquake Spectra, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 985-1013.