Investigation of the Impact of Seed Record Selection on Structural Response

Time history records are typically used to define the seismic demand for critical structures for which soil structure interaction (SSI) analyses are often required. Criteria for the development of time histories is provided in ASCE 43-05. The time histories are based on a close fit of 5% damped target response spectra. Recent experience has demonstrated that for cases where the transfer functions associated with the structural response are narrow, the ASCE 43-05 criteria can under-predict peak spectral responses in the structure by as much as 70% in some frequency ranges. One potential solution for this issue is to reinstate requirements for matching target response spectra for multiple damping levels to ASCE 43-05 criteria. However, recent probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHA) do not generally contain spectra for multiple damping levels. This paper proposes an approach to generate target spectra at multiple damping levels, given the 5% damped target spectrum provided by the PSHA, utilizing catalogs of recorded earthquakes. The process of fitting time histories to multiple damped spectra is effective in correcting defficiencies observed in the computed structural response when time histories meeting the ASCE 43-05 fitting criteria are used.