Application of the Specific Barrier Model to the simulation of earthquake strong ground motions

Benedikt Halldorsson*, Apostolos S. Papageorgiou

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The Specific Barrier Model provides a complete, yet parsimonious, self-consistent description of the heterogeneous earthquake faulting process. It assumes that the seismic moment is distributed in a deterministic manner on the fault plane, and is released through the incoherent rupture ofidentical "subevents" that fill the fault plane. Thus, the model can be applied in the "near-fault", as well as in the "far-field" region and has recently been calibrated using an extensive database of earthquake events representing three tectonic regimes (Halldorsson and Papageorgiou, 2005a). Using the parameters ofthe model that were obtained from the above calibration, we simulate time histories for a number of earthquake events that were well recorded, cover a wide magnitude range (M 5.9-7.9), and are representative samples ofdifferent source mechanisms. The stochastic approach is applied to synthesize the incoherent part ofnear- and far-ield strong ground motion while the deterministic/coherent part ofnear-field strong motions is simulated using a recently proposed mathematical model ofnear-fault velocity pulses. We compare the simulations with the recorded data, both in the time and frequency domain and thus evaluate the overall performance of the model. It is shown that the model provides on the average unbiased predictions over a wide frequency range (0.1-20 Hz) of earthquake strong ground motions. Thus, the Specific Barrier Model can be utilized as an effective tool for providing time histories of near-fault and far-ield earthquake ground motions that can be used with conidence by earthquake engineers in aseismic design.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication8th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering 2006
Pages8019-8028
Number of pages10
Publication statusPublished - 2006
Event8th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering 2006 - San Francisco, CA, United States
Duration: 18 Apr 200622 Apr 2006

Publication series

Name8th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering 2006
Volume13

Conference

Conference8th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering 2006
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco, CA
Period18/04/0622/04/06

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