Simulation of Spatially Correlated Nonstationary Response Spectrum–Compatible Ground Motion Time Histories

Abstract

AbstractA new methodology is presented for the generation of spatially correlated nonstationary ground motion time histories that are compatible with a prescribed response spectrum using the spectral representation method. The method introduces two important improvements over the current state of the art in that it preserves the coherence among the ground motion histories and enables the incorporation of both time and frequency modulation by upgrading the evolutionary power spectral density function with random pulse-like perturbations. An example is provided for the simulation of design spectrum–compatible, uniformly modulated nonstationary acceleration time histories at three locations on the ground, and the results are compared directly with an existing state-of-the-art methodology.