Chapter 06 Class Notes

6
Earthquake
Response of
Linear Systems
CIVL507 Class notes 1

Strong Motion Accelerographs:
(a) SMA-1 and (b) SSA-2
(a)
(b)
Figure 6.1.1 from Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications of Earthquake Engineering, by Anil K. Chopra, Prentice-Hall, 2017

Earthquake Excitation
A selection of
horizontal motions
from different
Earthquakes

Cascadia Seismicity
Cascadia Region - Seismic Sources

Loma Prieta
Earthquake 1989,
PGA

Near fault effects
Fault-normal component
Northridge Earthquake
1994
Note the long-period

pulse evident in the
acceleration, that is also
visible in the velocity
and displacement
responses

NS component of El Centro (Imperial Valley) Earthquake from

1940
Data presented in Appendix 6 of Chopra (2012) and available digitally from

CIVL507 Class notes
http://nisee.berkeley.edu/data/strong_motion/a.k.chopra/el_centro_data 7
For Engineering, the most useful way of defining the shaking

of the ground during an earthquake is the time variation of
acceleration, ug(t). Remember
mü + cu̇ + ku=−mü g (t)
i.e. if we know ü g(t) and the system properties m, c, k, the

problem is defined completely for a SDoF system.
These are recorded using strong-motion accelerographs…

Equation of Motion
The Equation of Motion of this system can be expressed as:
ü + 2ζωn u̇ + ωn 2 u=−ü g (t)
We write formally that for a given ü g(t), u(t) depends only on

Tn and ζ: u ≡ u(t, Tn, ζ)
Often an implicit assumption in using these recorded motions

for analysis of structures is a rigid base, or rigid underlying
soil.
This means that there can be no Soil-Structure Interaction.
Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) is a vibrant field of study at the

moment (including here at UBC), the effects of which are very
real and often changing the response quite substantially.
Despite this knowledge, we will neglect the effects of SSI for

now, and assume a rigid base and base motion unaltered by
the presence of a structure.

Response History
For Engineering, the response quantity of greatest interest is

the displacement, u(t), of the inertial mass relative to the
motion of the ground.
We use this to determine internal forces of structural

members, moments, shears, etc.
Of interest too, in
addition to u(t), is
ut(t), the total
displacement of
the inertial mass
(eg. to prevent
pounding, damage
to fragile gear)
Response History
Let’s look at some deformations, u(t), as a result of applying

the El Centro acceleration, to three systems with identical ζ,
but different ωn values.

Response History
Equivalent Static Force, fS
Definition of important design parameters: Vb(t), Mb(t) and

pseudo-acceleration, A(t)

Response History
Pseudo-acceleration,
A(t), for the same
example responses
to El Centro

Response Spectrum
This is a central concept in Earthquake Engineering
It summarises the peak response of all possible linear SDoF

Systems to a particular component of ground motion
It is embedded in the Building Code
A response spectrum is a plot of a peak value of a response

quantity Vs natural vibration period, Tn, of the system (or
related quantity)
We design for the worst case scenario

The Different Response Spectra
We know all we require is u(t) to compute the internal forces.

Hence the deformation response spectrum, D, is all that we
require to obtain peak values u0 (≡ D)
But, we will include the methods to calculate two additional

(and related) spectra, the pseudo-velocity and pseudo-
acceleration spectra, as these provide additional and useful
data later on

Procedure to develop the deformation response spectrum, D,

Developed here for the El Centro motion used earlier

Pseudo-velocity response spectrum,
Let’s consider a quantity which we will call, pseudo-velocity,

V, related to D as shown here. It can also be shown to be
related the peak strain energy, Eso
mV2
V = ωnD Es0 =
2

Pseudo-acceleration response spectrum,
Let’s consider the quantity which we have previously called,

pseudo-acceleration, A, related to D as shown here. It can
also be shown to be related the peak base shear, Vbo
A = ωn2 D Vb0 =mA

Deformation, D,
pseudo-velocity, V, and
pseudo-acceleration, A,
response spectra

Combined D-V- A response spectrum

Combined D-V- A response spectrum (for more ζ’s)

Designers are particularly interested in A/g and D:

Peak Structural Response
Using the Response Spectra
If the response spectrum for a ground motion is available, the

peak value of deformation is simple to determine
The is because the computationally intensive work has

already been done!
We can now easily

calculate important
values such as:
fS0
Vb0
Mb0

Example – Using a Response Spectrum
The figure below shows a SDoF system, the properties of

the steel pipe are: outside diameter, d0=4.5in., inside
diameter, di=4.026in., thickness, t=0.237in., second moment
of cross sectional area, I=7.23in.4, E=29,000ksi, weight,
w=10.79lb/ft length, ζ=0.02. Determine the peak deformation
and bending stress in the cantilever due to the El Centro
Ground Motion.

Response Spectrum for the El Centro Ground Motion

(ζ=0.02).

The stress of 46.5ksi we just calculated in the previous

example exceeded the allowable stress and designer
decided to increase the size of the pipe. The properties of
the new pipe are: d0=8.625in.
di=7.981in.
t=0.322in.
I=72.5in.4
Investigate the advantages of this increased pipe size.


(ζ=0.02).

In the frame below the beam is much stiffer than the columns
and can be assumed to be rigid. The cross section of the
columns is 10in. square. Determine the base shear in the two
columns at the moment of peak response due to the El Centro
ground motion. Assume m=10kips, E=3×103 and ζ=0.05.


(ζ = 0, 2%, 5%, 10% and 20%).

Characteristics of the Response Spectrum
We are going to try to show the relationship between the

Response Spectrum and the Ground Motion parameters.
We have seen the peak responses of the El Centro motion.

They are reproduced here:

And now we plot this data with normalised scales:

If we plot these peak responses together with the Response

Spectrum:

Lastly, we focus solely on the 5% damping curve for clarity:

Acceleration sensitive example, Tn = 0.02s (ζ=0.02)

The Effect of Damping
Damping has markedly different effects depending on which

of the three spectral regions the structure falls into
The effects of damping tend to be greatest in the velocity

sensitive region of the spectrum
The effect of damping in reducing the response depends on

Tn, but this relationship is complicated and the subject of
much research
Dampers are commonly installed in response to response the

response

Acceleration and pseudo-acceleration response spectra
3
ζ = 0.1 (a)
Acceleration üot
A / ügo or üot / ügo

2
Pseudo-acceleration A
2
(b)
ζ=0
1
A / üo
ζ = 0.1
t
ζ = 0.2
0
0.02 0.1 1 10 50
Tn, sec
Figure 6.12.2 from Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Application to Earthquake Engineering, by Anil K. Chopra, Prentice-Hall 2017
Relative-velocity and pseudo-velocity response spectra
3
ζ = 0.1 (a)
Relative velocity u˙o
V / u̇go or u̇o / u̇go

2
Pseudo-velocity V
4
(b)
ζ = 0.2
ζ = 0.1
V / u˙o
1
ζ=0
0
0.02 0.1 1 10 50
Tn, sec
Figure 6.12.1 from Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Application to Earthquake Engineering, by Anil K. Chopra, Prentice-Hall 2017
Graph paper with four-way logarithmic scales
100
50
20
10
5
Pseudo-velocity V, in./sec
0.5
0.2
0.02 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 20 50

Elastic Design Spectrum
Now that we know how to construct and use a Response

Spectrum, we can start to think about the Engineering Design
Spectrum
The Design Spectrum is intended for the design of new

structures
(And, in a slightly more limited sense, for the evaluation of

existing structures)
All of the Response Spectra we have looked at up until now

have been generated using a single excitation, or input
ground motion

What if we were to look at Response Spectra for different

motions recorded at the same site? Imperial Valley in this
case.

What if we are trying to create the Design Spectrum for a site

at which there have been no ground motions recorded?
We need to use motions recorded at different sites with similar

characteristics. Similar in:
- magnitude
- distance from fault
- fault mechanism
- geology of the path from source to site
- local site conditions
This is a difficult task in many regions of the world
Ground Motion selection is a topic of heated debate!

Procedure to create the Design Spectrum for a site at which

there are recorded ground motions available
1) Select a number of appropriate motions, say I motions (11

is a common number here)
2) Normalise each motion so that all I motions have identical

peak acceleration values, ü 0 (or u̇ 0, u0, etc. may be
preferred in some situations)
3) Calculate the Response Spectrum for each of these

normalised motions
4) Calculate the mean and standard deviation values for the

distribution of spectral ordinates at each Tn.




Design Spectrum Example - ü 0 = 1g, u̇ 0 = 48in./s, u0 = 36in
Follow procedure
to calculate V

From V, calculate A
from A = ωnV
Oftentimes, it is
convenient to view
this Spectrum, the
D spectrum on their
own also

D Spectrum

Finally, the process

must be repeated
for varying ζ‘s

Looking at the
pseudo-acceleration,
A Spectrum
for varying ζ‘s

Looking at the
pseudo-acceleration,
A Spectrum
for varying ζ‘s
(linear axes now)

How does the Design Spectrum compare to a Response

Spectrum? For El Centro, ü 0 = 0.319g (u̇ 0 = 15.3in./s, u0 =
11.5in are implied from firm ground ratios)

How does the Design Spectrum compare to a Response

Spectrum? For El Centro, ü 0 = 0.319g (now we use actual
values of u̇ 0 = 13.04in./s, u0 = 8.4in)

Emphasising the distinction between the Design Spectrum and

the Response Spectrum:
- Specified displacement (or design force)
Vs Response to ground motion
Here the Design Spectrum is defined using multiple sources:

Acknowledgment
Most of the notes included in this package were prepared by

Dr. Jason Dowling as part of the lecture notes that he
prepared for CIVL507 in 2014
The majority of the figures have been provided as

supplementary material for the book by Prof. Chopra

Chapter 06 Class Notes

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6

CIVL507 Class notes 1

CIVL507 Class notes 2

CIVL507 Class notes 3

Cascadia Region - Seismic Sources

CIVL507 Class notes 4

CIVL507 Class notes 5

Near fault effects

Note the long-period

CIVL507 Class notes 6

NS component of El Centro (Imperial Valley) Earthquake from

Data presented in Appendix 6 of Chopra (2012) and available digitally from

For Engineering, the most useful way of defining the shaking

mü + cu̇ + ku=−mü g (t)

i.e. if we know ü g(t) and the system properties m, c, k, the

These are recorded using strong-motion accelerographs…

CIVL507 Class notes 8

The Equation of Motion of this system can be expressed as:

ü + 2ζωn u̇ + ωn 2 u=−ü g (t)

We write formally that for a given ü g(t), u(t) depends only on

Often an implicit assumption in using these recorded motions

This means that there can be no Soil-Structure Interaction.

Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) is a vibrant field of study at the

Despite this knowledge, we will neglect the effects of SSI for

CIVL507 Class notes 10

For Engineering, the response quantity of greatest interest is

We use this to determine internal forces of structural

Let’s look at some deformations, u(t), as a result of applying

CIVL507 Class notes 12

Equivalent Static Force, fS

Definition of important design parameters: Vb(t), Mb(t) and

CIVL507 Class notes 13

CIVL507 Class notes 14

This is a central concept in Earthquake Engineering

It summarises the peak response of all possible linear SDoF

It is embedded in the Building Code

A response spectrum is a plot of a peak value of a response

We design for the worst case scenario

CIVL507 Class notes 15

We know all we require is u(t) to compute the internal forces.

But, we will include the methods to calculate two additional

CIVL507 Class notes 16

Procedure to develop the deformation response spectrum, D,

CIVL507 Class notes 17

Pseudo-velocity response spectrum,

Let’s consider a quantity which we will call, pseudo-velocity,

CIVL507 Class notes 18

Pseudo-acceleration response spectrum,

Let’s consider the quantity which we have previously called,

A = ωn2 D Vb0 =mA

CIVL507 Class notes 19

CIVL507 Class notes 20

Combined D-V- A response spectrum

CIVL507 Class notes 22

Combined D-V- A response spectrum (for more ζ’s)

CIVL507 Class notes 23

Designers are particularly interested in A/g and D:

CIVL507 Class notes 24

Using the Response Spectra

If the response spectrum for a ground motion is available, the

The is because the computationally intensive work has

We can now easily