PEER Reports

PEER Reports

Identification of Site Parameters that Improve Predictions of Site Amplification, PEER Report 2013-18

Ellen M. Rathje
Sara Navidi
2013

The effects of the local soil conditions on earthquake shaking are of ten quantified via an amplification factor, which is defined as the ratio of the ground motion at the soil surface to the ground motion at a rock site at the same location. Site amplification models are empirical equations that predict site amplification based on the general characteristics of the site. Most of the current site amplification models predict amplification based on the average shear wave velocity in the top 30 m (V S30 ). However, additional site parameters influence site amplification and should...

Response Spectrum Analysis of Concrete Gravity Dams Including Dam-Water-Foundation Interaction, PEER Report 2013-17

Arnkjell Løkke
Anil K. Chopra
2013

A response spectrum analysis (RSA) procedure, which estimates the peak response directly from the earthquake design spectrum, was developed in 1986 for the preliminary phase of design and safety evaluation of concrete gravity dams. The analysis procedure includes the effects of dam- water-foundation interaction, known to be important in the earthquake response of dams.

This report presents a comprehensive evaluation of the accuracy of the RSA procedure by comparing its results with those obtained from response history analysis (RHA) of the dam modeled as a finite element system,...

Hanging-Wall Scaling using Finite-Fault Simulations, PEER Report 2013-14

Jennifer L. Donahue
Norman A. Abrahamson
2013

The hanging-wall (HW) effect is defined as the increase in ground motions observed during a reverse earthquake event, when in close proximity and while on the hanging-wall side of a fault. As observed in the empirical data, the short period ground motions over the hanging-wall may be twice the amplitude of the ground motions recorded on the footwall at the same rupture distance. Because there are only a few earthquakes with near-fault recordings, there is insufficient empirical data to constrain the dependence of the HW effect. Using finite-fault simulations, 34 reverse earthquake events...

NGA-West2 Models for Ground-Motion Directionality, PEER Report 2013-10

Shrey K. Shahi
Jack W. Baker
2013

The NGA-West2 research program, coordinated by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER), is a major effort to produce refined models for predicting ground-motion response spectra. This study presents new models for ground-motion directionality developed as part of that project. Using a database of recorded strong ground motions, empirical models have been developed for a variety of quantities related to direction-dependent spectra.

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NGA-West2 Model for Estimating Average Horizontal Values of Pseudo-Absolute Spectral Accelerations Generated by Crustal Earthquakes, PEER Report 2013-08

I. M. Idriss
2013

A model for estimating average horizontal values of pseudo-absolute spectral accelerations generated by crustal earthquakes is developed as part of this study. The NGA-West2 Project significantly expanded the data base of motions recorded during earthquakes and offered the opportunity to re-examine and update the NGA relationships published by the NGA developers in 2008. The new data set comprised 21,539 recordings obtained during earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 3 to 7.9, recorded at distance ranging from 0.2 km to well over 300 km, and for recording stations with Vs30...

Epistemic Uncertainty for NGA-West2 Models, PEER Report 2013-11

Linda Al Atik
Robert R. Youngs
2013

Probabilistic seismic hazard studies typically address the epistemic uncertainty in ground motion estimation by using a weighted set of alternative ground motion models. This approach relies on the assumption that the alternative models are developed independently, and the resulting range of model predictions adequately captures the epistemic uncertainty in ground motion estimation. The development of the NGA-West2 ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) is a collaborative effort with many interactions and exchange of ideas among the developers. Despite the fact that the NGA-West2...

New PEER Report 2021/09: "Use of Corridors for Decision Making in Transportation Networks in Seismic Regions"

November 29, 2021

PEER has just published Report No. 2021/09 "Use of Corridors for Decision Making in Transportation Networks in Seismic Regions." It was authored by Rodrigo I. Silva-Lopez and Jack W. Baker, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University.

PDF available at: PEER Report 2021/09 or click here for full list: PEER Reports

Abstract

This report presents the results of the study that proposes...

New PEER Report 2021/10: "Seismic Performance of Column-to-Drilled-Shaft Connections in Reinforced Concrete Bridges"

November 29, 2021

PEER has just published Report No. 2021/10: "Seismic Performance of Column-to-Drilled-Shaft Connections in Reinforced Concrete Bridges." It was authored by Michelle Chang, John Stanton and Marc Eberhard, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington.

PDF available at: PEER Report 2021/10 or click here for full list: PEER Reports

Abstract

Drilled shaft foundations are often...

NGA-West2 Ground Motion Prediction Equations for Vertical Ground Motions, PEER Report 2013-24

2013

This report documents the development of the NGA-West2 empirical ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for ground-motion intensity measures derived from recordings of the vertical component of ground motion. The extensive and expanded PEER NGA-West2 ground-motion database recorded from shallow crustal earthqua kes in active tectonic domains was used to develop GMPEs for the vertical component of peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), and 5%-damped elastic pseudo-absolute acceleration response spectral ordinates (PSA) at periods ranging from 0.01 to 3 sec (the NGA-...

Retest of Thirty-Year-Old Neoprene Isolation Bearings, PEER Report 2014-03

James M. Kelly
Niel C. Van Engelen
2014

A set of Neoprene isolation bearings remaining from a 1981 shake table test series conducted at the Earthquake Simulator Laboratory at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center (now the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center) were retested in 2012. The new test series was conducted at the NEES site at the Richmond Field Station, University of California, Berkeley. The retest program had the dual purpose of determining the changes in the isolation properties, namely, the horizontal stiffness and equivalent viscous damping, and to study the behavior of the isolators at dynamic...