A study on the selection of ground motion measures for seismic capacity assessments of urban building complexes in Weinan

Abstract

Selecting reasonable ground motion intensity measures (GMIMs) can facilitate more accurate seismic capacity assessments of urban building complexes (UBCs). In this study, basic structural classes (BSCs) were proposed to be used as analysis models for selecting GMIMs for UBCs in Weinan, China. A total of 171 BSCs for typical buildings were established under certain assumptions. In addition, 41 GMIMs were extracted from each of 273 ground motion records selected for analysis in this study and used to build a set of candidate optimal GMIMs. Moreover, each BSC was subjected to an elastic–plastic time-history analysis to determine its maximum inter-story drift ratio (MIDR). Furthermore, the corresponding relationships between the GMIMs and the MIDR of each BSC were established. The applicability of each GMIM for UBCs was evaluated using four metrics, i.e., correlation coefficient, effectiveness, practicability and sufficiency. Four GMIMs, namely, peak ground acceleration (PGA), root mean square of acceleration (aRMS), average spectral acceleration (Saavg) and velocity response intensity (VSI), were selected as optimal input GMIMs for seismic capacity assessment of UBCs in Weinan. This study provides a reference for selecting GMIMs for seismic capacity assessment of UBCs in Weinan.