Determination of combined effect of amplification and attenuation of soft rock site using digital seismic data

In the paper, for the application of stochastic simulation of ground motion, we put forward a method to determine “the combined effect of amplification and attenuation” (combined effect for short) of soft rock site by using digital seismic data of moderate and small earthquakes. Our approach aims at solving the problem of the combined effect of soft rock site, which is difficult to determine in most regions of China because fewer measures were done for S-wave velocity structure. The combined effect of soft rock site can be determined by using the approach recommended by us. An example is given to discuss the practical application of the method. Foundation item: The Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Project under Grant No.2002CB412706 and National Natural Science Foundation of China (50468003). Contribution No.04FE1021, Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration.     

用随机模拟方法研究设定地震的地面运动参数

本文从强地面运动随机模拟方法应用出发,提出了一种用中小地震的数字观测资料确定研究区路径、场地参数的方法。采用该方法,分离软基岩场地联合效应和非弹性衰减的影响,并把二者分别确定出来。这些参数可以直接用于研究区软基岩场地的地面运动随机模拟。     

S wave inelastic attenuation and site effect in the northern Tianshan area

In this paper,according to the relationship of observation spectrum with source spectrum,travel-path attenuationfactor and site effect,we use the digital seismic data of moderate-small earthquakes to invert the soft rock site ef-fect and S wave inelastic attenuation under the constraint of site effect,and determine the parameters of path andsite.The parameters obtained by this method exclude the topographic effect of seismic stations,and truly reflectthe seismic effect of free soft rock sites and the S wave inelastic attenuation in the studied region.The average softrock site effect is about 1.5 times in the frequency domain of 2～4 Hz and the S wave quality factor is obtained asQS=278 f0.346,which can be directly applied to the stochastic modeling of ground motions in the studied region.     

北天山地区S波非弹性衰减和场地效应研究

采用中小地震的数字观测资料,依据地震观测谱和震源谱、传播路径衰减因子及场地效应的关系式,在对场地效应约束的条件下,反演S波非弹性衰减和软基岩场地效应,确定研究区路径、 场地参数. 该方法确定的参数, 避免了台站地形效应的影响,真实地反映了研究区自由软基岩场地的地震效应和传播路径非弹性衰减的影响. 研究区的平均软基岩场地效应, 在2~4 Hz频率范围为1.5倍左右; S波品质因子为QS=278 f 0.346.这些参数可以直接用于研究区的地面运动随机模拟.      

强地面运动随机模拟中的几个关键问题探讨

在数字观测资料基础上发展起来的地震动随机模拟方法,能较客观地把研究区的震源特性、传播路径影响和场地响应考虑进来,适用于缺乏强震记录的国家和地区。但在实际应用中,有不少关键问题尚未解决,其中,软基岩的场地响应是地震学家一直想解决但始终没有很好解决的问题;另外,厚覆盖土层的场地响应是工程上很关心的问题,由于资料和方法限制,研究工作做的很少;而强震的震源谱对地震动随机模拟结果影响显著,一直都是随机模拟方法的研究焦点。总之,这两个方面的3个问题都是地震动随机模拟方法应用中的“关键问题”,本文在大量的研究工作基础上,对这些关键问题提出一些探讨性的解决途径和方法。     

Probabilistic Microzonation of Urban Territories: A Case of Tashkent City

—?The problem of accounting for local soil effect on earthquake ground motion is especially urgent when assessing seismic hazard – recent needs of earthquake engineering require local site effects to be included into hazard maps. However, most recent works do not consider the variety of soil conditions or are performed for generalized site categories, such as “hard rock,”“soft soil” or “alluvium.” A technique of seismic hazard calculations on the basis of the Fourier Amplitude Spectra recently developed by the authors allows us to create hazard maps involving the influence of local soil conditions using soil/bedrock spectral ratios. Probabilistic microzoning maps may be constructed showing macroseismic intensity, peak ground acceleration, response and design spectra for various return periods (probability of exceedance), that allow optimization of engineering decisions. An application of this approach is presented which focused on the probabilistic microzoning of the Tashkent City.     

Low impact surface hardness testing (Equotip) on porous surfaces – advances in methodology with implications for rock weathering and stone deterioration research

The Equotip surface hardness tester is becoming a popular method for rock and stone weathering research. In order to improve the reliability of Equotip for on‐site application this study tested four porous limestones under laboratory conditions. The range of stone porosity was chosen to represent likely porosities found in weathered limestones in the field. We consider several key issues: (i) its suitability for soft and porous stones; (ii) the type of probe required for specific on‐site applications; (iii) appropriate (non‐parametrical) statistical methods for Equotip data; (iv) sufficient sampling size. This study shows that the Equotip is suitable for soft and porous rock and stone. From the two tested probes the DL probe has some advantages over the D probe as it correlates slightly better with open porosity and allows for more controlled sampling in recessed areas and rough or curved areas. We show that appropriate sampling sizes and robust non‐parametric methods for subsequent data evaluation can produce meaningful measures of rock surface hardness derived from the Equotip. The novel Hybrid dynamic hardness, a combination of two measuring procedures [single impact method (SIM) and repeated impact method (RIM)], has been adapted and is based on median values to provide a more robust data evaluation. For the tested stones in this study we propose a sample size of 45 readings (for a confidence level of 95%). This approach can certainly be transferred to stone and rock with similar porosities and hardness. Our approach also allows for consistent comparisons to be made across a wide variety of studies in the fields of rock weathering and stone deterioration research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

用随机模拟方法研究设定地震地面运动

用随机模拟方法研究设定地震地面运动可分两步进行：（1）采用中小地震的数字观测资料确定研究区路径、场地参数;（2）把确定的参数应用到研究区的强地面运动随机模拟中. 为此,本文首先采用了一种可行的方法,分离软基岩场地效应和非弹性衰减的影响,并把二者分别确定出来. 研究区北部中软基岩场地的平均效应在2～4Hz频率范围为15倍左右;研究区的S波品质因子为QS＝278f[KG*2]0.346. 把这些参数用于研究区的场地和路径模型中,并选择单拐角频率震源谱模型,随机模拟了研究区未来中强地震可能在北天山中段可能造成的地面运动,模拟加速度时程和反应谱可以服务于本地区的地震灾害预测和建筑物可靠性验算.     

区域场地分类方法研究综述

大量破坏性地震震害调查结果表明:松软土层场地上的震害情况要比坚硬岩石场地上的震害情况更加严重,在一定区域范围内不同类型场地上震害差别也较大,因此场地放大效应及区域场地分类的研究逐渐成为地震工程领域关注的热点问题。随着高精度地形地貌数据及地理信息处理软件的逐步完善,区域场地分类方法的研究迅速发展。本文重点介绍了基于地形条件、地貌条件、地质条件及综合条件的场地分类方法,对各方法的优缺点进行探讨,并分析了其在使用时应注意的重点问题。     

基于NGA模型的芦山余震地震动衰减关系

四川省芦山县于2013年4月20日发生了7.0级地震,基于国家强震动台网中心发布的此次地震的2 106组余震强震动记录,利用基于NGA衰减关系的简化模型,使用随机效应方法拟合得到其PGA以及0.01~8 s周期下的伪加速度反应谱（阻尼比5%）的地震动衰减关系。与其他学者研究得出的四川其他地区衰减关系进行对比,本文模型能够较好地预测芦山余震强震动衰减。不论基岩场地和软土场地,本文在衰减关系在短周期均与卢大伟模型结果一致。但是在长周期情况下,本文模型在软土场地大于卢大伟结果,而在基岩场地上低于俞言祥结果。因此,在使用本文衰减关系时,要特别注意场地和周期对其的影响。     

场地放大效应的估计

本利用唐山地区9个台站得到的13次近场地震记录分析了场地放大效应，其中一些站位于废弃的地下煤矿坑道内，最深的一个台站在地下822m处，首先检验确定了地面反射波对地下场地的入射波没有很大影响，在后利用地下基岩场地台站（－822m)作参考场地，用线性反演法来同时分离震源，传播途径和局部场地效应，结果发现：在1至10Hz的频段上S波品质因子Qs基本上与频率成正比；与以地面基岩场地作参考场地所得的结果相比较，地面基岩场地的反应并不是一常数，它在大于6Hz的高频段上有明显的放大作用，在本的研究事件中，在6至10Hz的频段上这个放大纱数约为2至4。这表明由于地面基岩场地本身的放大作用，将导致在作场地震动预测时会低估地震作用，最后采用一种新的非参考场地法，即遗传算法，用w^2震源模型来估计绝对场地效应。在本的研究结果中，对大多数台站场地来说，所得的绝对场地应应与以地下基岩台站作参考场地所得的相对场地效应十分一致。这表明这作场地震动分析时，当仔细考虑了反射波对入射波的影响后，地下或井下基岩场地是比地面基岩场地更合适的参考场地。     

Seismic response of Beirut (Lebanon) buildings: instrumental results from ambient vibrations

Resonance period is a key parameter in the seismic design of a structure, thus dynamic parameters of buildings in Beirut (Lebanon) were investigated based on ambient vibration method for risk and vulnerability assessment. Lebanon is facing high seismic hazard due to its major faults, combined to a high seismic risk caused by dense urbanization in addition to the lack of a seismic design code implementation. For this study, ambient vibration recordings have been performed on 330 RC buildings, period parameters extracted and statistically analyzed to identify correlations with physical building parameters (height, horizontal dimensions, age) and site characteristics (rock sites or soft sites). The study shows that (1) the building height or number of floors (N) is the primary statistically robust parameter for the estimation of the fundamental period T; (2) the correlation between T and N is linear and site dependent: T ≈ N/23 for rock sites and N/18 for soft sites; (3) the measured damping is inversely proportional to the period: the taller the building the lower is the damping; (4) a significant overestimation of the period exists in current building codes. However part of the large discrepancy with building code recommendations may be due to the very low level of loading.     

Free-field response from inclined SH-waves and love-waves

To identify the key features of the free-field response for antiplane motion, a vast parametric study is performed, varying the location of the control point, the nature of the wave pattern and the site properties. Harmonic and transient seismic excitations for a site consisting of a layer on bedrock and an actual soft site and a rock site are investigated. When the control point is selected at the outcrop of the bedrock, the amplification of the motion to the free surface of the site depends on the angle of incidence of the incoming wave in the bedrock. Vertically incident, inclined SH-waves and Love-waves result in a very similar variation of the motion with depth. In contrast to Love-waves the attenuation of the motion in the horizontal direction for inclined body waves depends on the damping of only the bedrock. Love-waves thus attenuate more strongly than body waves, especially for soft sites and in the higher-frequency range. Generally, higher Love-modes attenuate less than the first. To determine the seismic input motion for a structure at a soft site, it seems sufficient to examine only extremely shallow body waves. For a rock site, however, Love-waves should be investigated.     

Thinking Outside the Boxcar: Effective and Sustainable Combined Remedies Using Single Application of Multifunctional Amendments

The combined remedy approach to groundwater remediation optimizes contaminated site cleanup as measured by technical efficacy and sustainability. Regardless of the potential for improving site cleanups, there are several obstacles limiting the implementation of combined remedies. The obstacles primarily stem from an inability of liability owners to easily determine if economic costs are synergistic or additive and from regulatory hesitancy to codify needed timing and technology sequencing flexibility within design documents. These obstacles can often be circumvented by employing multicomponent and multifunctional remedial amendment formulations delivered with a single application. Case studies are presented that demonstrate efficacy of this combined remedies approach. The sustainability of the approach is also assessed by evaluation of economic viability, social productivity, and environmental protection. The case studies include combined abiotic and biotic degradation of chlorinated ethene and ethane compounds, combined reductive, and microaerophilic treatment of chlorinated benzenes, and combined chemical oxidation and biodegradation of petroleum compounds. Case studies are supported with conventional concentration trends and advanced diagnostics including compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) and genetic‐based molecular biological tools (MBTs).     

Modeling of spatially correlated,site-reflected,and nonstationary ground motions compatible with response spectrum

Seismic risk analysis and mitigation of spatially extended structures require the synthesis of spatially varying ground motions in the response history analysis of these structures. These synthetic motions are usually desired to be spatially correlated, site reflected, nonstationary, and compatible with target design response spectra. In this paper, a method is presented for simulating spatially varying ground motions considering the nonstationarity, local site effects, and compatibility of response spectra. The scheme for generating spatially varying and response spectra compatible ground motions is first established for spatial locations on the ground surface with varying site conditions. The design response spectrum is introduced as the “power” spectrum at the base rock. The site amplification approach is then derived based on the deterministic wave propagation theory, by assuming that the base rock motions consist of out-of-plane SH wave or in-plane combined P and SV waves propagating into the site with assumed incident angles, from which tri-directional spatial ground motions can be generated. The phase difference spectrum is employed to model ground motions exhibiting nonstationarity in both frequency and time domains with different site conditions. The proposed scheme is demonstrated with numerical examples.     

爆破地震动效应的数值模拟分析

爆破设计中,场地条件复杂时经验公式的应用受到一定限制。本文采用波动有限元分析方法,研究复杂场地条件下工程爆破时场地的地震动效应,研究爆破地震动特征及衰减规律。根据某重点工程场地岩土参数的原位测试和试验结果,用自行研制的软件包进行场地爆破地震动效应的数值模拟分析,为工程爆破设计及施工前建筑物、仪器设备的加固提供了依据。施工试爆实测结果与本文数值模拟分析给出的结果一致,说明本文方法是可行的,对其它工程也有借鉴作用。     

New relationship between fundamental site frequency and thickness of soft sediments from seismic ambient noise

In this contribution, new relationship between the fundamental site frequency and the thickness of soft sediments is obtained for many sites in Egypt. The Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (“H/V”) technique (known as Nakamura technique) can be used as a robust tool to determine the thickness of soft sediments layers overlaying bedrock from observations and measurements of seismic ambient noise data. In Egypt, numerous seismic ambient noise measurements have been conducted in several areas to determine the dynamic properties of soft soil for engineering purposes. At each site in each studied area, the fundamental site frequency was accurately estimated from the main peak in the spectral ratio between the horizontal and vertical component. Consequently, an extensive database of microtremor measurements, well logging data, and shallow seismic refraction data have been configured and assembled for the studied areas. New formula between fundamental site frequency (f₀) and thickness of soft sediments (h) is established. The new formula has been validated and compared with other formulas of earlier scientists, and the results indicate that the calculated depth and geometry of the bedrock surface using new formula are in a good agreement with well logs data and previously published seismic refraction surveys in the investigated sites.     

Site effect on vulnerability of high-rise shear wall buildings under near and far field earthquakes

Worldwide experience repeatedly shows that damages in structures caused by earthquakes are highly dependent on site condition and epicentral distance. In this paper, a 21-storey shear wall-structure built in the 1960s in Hong Kong is selected as an example to investigate these two effects. Under various design earthquake intensities and for various site conditions, the fragility curves or damage probability matrix of such building is quantified in terms of the ductility factor, which is estimated from the ratio of storey yield shear to the inter-storey seismic shear. For high-rise buildings, a higher probability of damage is obtained for a softer site condition, and damage is more severe for far field earthquakes than for near field earthquakes. For earthquake intensity of VIII, the probability of complete collapse (P) increases from 1 to 24% for near field earthquakes and from 1 to 41% for far field earthquakes if the building is moved form a rock site to a site consisting a 80 m thick soft clay. For intensity IX, P increases from 6 to 69% for near field earthquake and from 14 to 79% for far field earthquake if the building is again moved form rock site to soft soil site. Therefore, site effect is very important and not to be neglected. Similar site and epicentral effects should also be expected for other types of high-rise structures.     

Side effect of using response spectral amplification ratios for soil sites—variability and earthquake-magnitude and source-distance dependent amplification ratios for soil sites

We investigate a special type of variability in response spectral amplification ratios computed from numerical “engineering” models for a soft soil site. The engineering models are defined by shallow soil layers over “engineering” bedrock with a shear-wave velocity over 600–700 m/s and the model is subjected to vertical propagating shear waves. The variability, perhaps unique in earthquake engineering, is a result of the “perfectly accurate” computational procedure. For example, an engineering soil site model, subjected to two rock site records or the two horizontal components of a rock site record, produces different response spectral amplification ratios. We use a large number of strong-motion records from “engineering” rock sites, with a reasonably balanced distribution with respect to magnitude and source distance, generated by subduction earthquakes in Japan, to investigate the nature of the variability. In order to avoid any approximation in removing the effect of soil nonlinear response, we use a simple model, a single horizontal soil layer over a bedrock, modelled as elastic. We then demonstrate that a similar type of variability observed in the one- or two-dimensional nonlinear soil models is caused by the nature of response spectral amplification ratios, not a direct result of soil nonlinear response. Examination of variability reveals that the average of response spectral amplification ratios systematically depends on both earthquake magnitude and source distance. We find that, at periods much longer than the site natural periods of the soil sites, the scatter of the amplification ratios decreases with increasing magnitude and source distance. These findings may have a potential impact in establishing design spectra for soft soil sites using strong-motion attenuation models or dynamic numerical modelling.