Taiwan Recorded Ground-Motion Database for Structural Response-History Analysis

Taiwan Recorded Ground-Motion Database for Structural Response-History Analysis

Nonlinear response-history analysis is beneficial for obtaining inelastic structural responses that resemble reality, especially for high-rise, long-span, damping, or base-isolated structures. However, to obtain reliable responses, one of the key issues is proper input excitation selection. In this study, we develop the Taiwan recorded ground motion database for structural response history analysis, which is based on ten target response spectra, local recorded ground motions, and the mean-squared error (MSE) of the major selection index. Target spectra for seven general sites, with corner periods ranging from 0.4 s to 1.0 s, and three Taipei Basin seismic microzonation sites were chosen, all of which have a return period of 475 years. A total of 30 records were selected for each target spectrum to provide an initial reference for choosing input excitations before executing time-history analysis. The ground motion selection fitness index was based on the MSE. This study concludes by providing suggestions for addressing practical issues in database applications, such as methods for selecting reference scale factors (SFs) for bidirectional ground motions, SF and MSE thresholds, and principles for selecting multiple records.