Use of combined scaling of real seismic records to obtain code-compliant sets of accelerograms: application for the city of Bucharest

TL;DR

This paper evaluates a combined time and amplitude scaling method for real seismic records, ensuring code-compliance for accelerogram sets in Bucharest, applicable under Romanian and Eurocode 8 standards.

Contribution

It assesses a novel scaling approach that guarantees code-compliant accelerogram sets using combined scaling and intensity constraints, validated through dynamic analyses.

Findings

The method produces accelerogram sets with mean response spectra above 90% of the code spectrum.

It is compliant with Romanian P100-1/2006 and Eurocode 8 standards.

The approach is effective for the long corner period spectrum in Bucharest.

Abstract

A recently proposed method for scaling real accelerograms to obtain sets of code-compliant records is assessed. The method, which uses combined time and amplitude scaling, corroborated with an imposed value of an instrumental, Arias type intensity, allows the generation of sets of accelerograms for which the values of the mean response spectrum for a given period range are not less than 90% of the elastic response spectrum specified by the code. The method, which is compliant with both for the Romanian seismic code, P100-1/2006, and Eurocode 8, was described in previous papers. Based on dynamic analyses of single-degree-of freedom (SDOF) and of multi degree-of-freedom (MDOF) systems, a detailed application and assessment of the method is performed, for the case of the long corner period design spectrum in Bucharest. Conclusions are drawn on the advantages of the method, as well as on its potential improvement in the future.