| The overall goal of this study is to compare the 2006 International Building Code design response spectrum to the single degree of freedom linear elastic response spectrum generated from synthetic earthquake ground motions. This is done by first producing a series of synthetic ground motion accelerations formulated from site parameters that are characteristic of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, and then filtering the acceleration data through a baseline correction scheme to adjust any drifts in the displacement response. Next, the response spectra of each time series is calculated and used to find the average spectral response for all of the acceleration traces. The amplitudes of this plot are compared to a 2006 International Building Code design response spectrum formulated for the same site conditions. In addition, the effects of stress drop and magnitude on the simulation response spectrum were examined. For this study, the simulated ground motions produced larger spectral response acceleration values for structures with larger natural periods as compared to the general method. This would imply that implementing the stochastic method for specific site study design in the New Madrid Seismic Zone would create larger design forces and thus, stronger structures, compared to the general method outlined in the 2006 IBC. It was also determined that an accurate estimation of moment magnitude and stress drop for the site is a key factor in stochastic ground motion simulation. |
