Spectrum-compatible accelerograms for inelastic seismic analysis of short-period structures located in eastern Canada

Abstract

Smooth design spectra are generally used to describe the seismic excitation provided by the maximum design earthquake for safety evaluation of critical facilities located in eastern Canada. However, a comprehensive study of the inelastic behaviour of critical structural systems requires a step-by-step inelastic analysis in the time domain. This paper presents a study of the inelastic seismic analysis of short-period structures subjected to ground motion acceleration time histories compatible with eastern Canadian conditions and defined (i) from historical records scaled to the smooth design spectrum intensity, (ii) from spectrum-compatible accelerograms generated by random vibration theory, and (iii) from the modification of the Fourier spectrum coefficients of historical records while preserving the original phase angles. The ductility demand, the input energy, the hysteretic energy, the number of yield events, and other performance indices are examined in parametric analyses to identify the type of earthquake motions that is critical for earthquake resistant design of short-period structures. Key words: earthquake resistant design, artificial accelerograms, eastern Canada.