INELASTIC DESIGN SPECTRA ACCOUNTING FOR SOIL-CONDITIONS

This paper is concerned with the effect of soil conditions on the response of single-degree-of-freedom inelastic systems subjected to earthquake motions. The ground motions considered are 72 horizontal components of motion, most of them recorded during the 3 March, 1985 Chile earthquake (M(s) = 7.8) and two main aftershocks; among these records are some of the strongest and longer duration earthquake motions ever recorded. The recording station sites were classified in one of three soil types, which can be generically referred to as rock, firm ground, and medium stiffness soil. Response results for each group were analysed statistically to obtain factors for deriving inelastic design spectra of the Newmark-Hall type, as well as alternative simplified spectral shapes suitable for code formulation. Particular attention was given to the response modification factors (R) that are commonly used in seismic codes to reduce the ordinates of the elastic spectrum to account for the energy dissipation capacity of the structure. The response modification factors, known to be function of both the natural period of vibration and the ductility factor, are found to be dependent on soil conditions, particularly in the case of medium stiffness soils. It is also shown that the indirect procedure of applying R to the elastic design spectrum is less accurate than directly using functions that represent the inelastic design spectrum.