Response of Seismic-Isolated Bridges in Relation To Intensity Measures of Ordinary and Pulselike Ground Motions
Response of Seismic-Isolated Bridges in Relation To Intensity Measures of Ordinary and Pulselike Ground Motions
                                                                                                                                                     Abstract: This study concentrates on the efficiency of numerous ground motion intensity measures (IMs) to be used in estimating the response
                                                                                                                                                     of seismic-isolated bridges (SIBs). Efficiency of commonly used IMs was investigated through their correlation with maximum isolator dis-
                                                                                                                                                     placement (MID) obtained from nonlinear dynamic analyses. Two sets of ground motions (GMs), classified as ordinary and pulse-like, were
                                                                                                                                                     used in nonlinear dynamic analyses of SIBs. In the analyses, varying isolation parameters, such as the isolation period, T, and the characteristic
                                                                                                                                                     strength of the isolator, Qd =W, were studied. Sensitivity to varying T and Qd =W and the effect of ground motion type on the correlation of IMs
                                                                                                                                                     with MID of SIBs were examined. To improve the correlation of existing IMs, modified IMs were proposed. The results revealed that
                                                                                                                                                     the isolation period has a pronounced effect on the correlation of IMs with MID of SIBs, especially for pulse-like GMs. Among the investigated
                                                                                                                                                     IMs, modified velocity spectrum intensity appears to have the strongest correlation with MID of SIBs for a wide range of isolation parameters
                                                                                                                                                     and ground motion type. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000340. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
                                                                                                                                                     CE Database subject headings: Bridges; Ground motion; Seismic analysis; Isolation; Correlation.
                                                                                                                                                     Author keywords: Bridges; Ground motion; Seismic analysis; Isolation; Correlation.
                                                                                                                                                     (2007) pointed out that inelastic spectral displacement, Sdi , exhibits        correlation of ground motion IMs with the seismic response of SIBs.
                                                                                                                                                     all of the three desirable aspects of a proper IM, namely, efficiency,
                                                                                                                                                     sufficiency, and scaling robustness for both ordinary and pulse-like
                                                                                                                                                     ground motion records for fixed-based moment-resisting frames                   Description of Seismic-Isolated Bridges and
                                                                                                                                                     with a variety of structural properties. Another study conducted by            Analytical Model
                                                                                                                                                     Padgett et al. (2008) focused on assessing the characteristics of
                                                                                                                                                     optimal IMs for portfolios of bridges that exhibit considerable                The investigated bridge geometry is identical to the one studied by
                                                                                                                                                     nonlinearity under seismic loading. The periods of the investigated            Ozdemir et al. (2011). It is a continuous, three-span, cast-in-place
                                                                                                                                                     bridges ranged from 0.17 to 0.32 s. The authors considered both                concrete box girder structure with a 30 skew. The two intermediate
                                                                                                                                                     synthetic and recorded motions but excluded the ones with near-field            bents consist of two circular columns with a cap beam [Fig. 1(a)]. Two
                                                                                                                                                     characteristics. Padgett et al. (2008) revealed that peak ground               isolators are placed at each abutment, and each isolator is assumed
                                                                                                                                                     acceleration (PGA) is the optimal IM for the considered bridge                 to carry half of the tributary weight of the deck, which is 8,335 kN
                                                                                                                                                     portfolios. The study carried out by Narasimhan et al. (2009) differs          (4,167.5 kN per isolator). The idealized bridge model was analyzed in the
                                                                                                                                                     from the previously discussed research studies in terms of the                 OpenSees platform (Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center
                                                                                                                                                     structural type considered, base-isolated buildings. In their study, the       2009), as described in detail by Ozdemir et al. (2011). Fig. 1(b) sche-
                                                                                                                                                     authors did not seek the best IM, but rather focused on the potential          matically shows the employed analytical model of the isolated bridge.
                                                                                                                                                     efficiency of existing IMs by employing a combination of several
                                                                                                                                                     IMs. However, Narasimhan et al. (2009) did not address the dif-                Considered Isolation Systems
                                                                                                                                                     ference between ordinary and pulse-like ground motions, because
                                                                                                                                                     a single heterogeneous ground motion bin was considered.                       The isolation systems are represented by a generic bilinear hysteretic
                                                                                                                                                         Most of the previous studies concentrated on conventional fixed-            representation without considerations for cycle-to-cycle deterioration
                                                                                                                                                     base structures, whereas few research studies exist regarding the              of properties. Fig. 2 illustrates the idealized force-deformation re-
                                                                                                                                                     seismic-isolated systems. Furthermore, studies that considered the             lationship in which Qd is the characteristic strength, kd is the postelastic
                                                                                                                                                     seismic-isolated systems did not address the difference between or-            stiffness, and ke is the elastic stiffness. Fy and Dy are the yield force
                                                                                                                                                     dinary and pulse-like ground motions explicitly. This may not be an            and yield displacement, respectively. The isolation period, T, is
                                                                                                                                                     issue for fixed-base buildings where periods under investigation are            related to postelastic stiffness, kd , through Eq. (1). W is the weight
                                                                                                                                                     generally less than 1 s. However, for seismic-isolated systems, where          acting on an isolator, and g is the gravitational acceleration
                                                                                                                                                     isolation periods are greater than 2 s, near-field characteristics are
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            rffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
                                                                                                                                                     especially pronounced (Bommer and Ruggeri 2002). Hence,
                                                                                                                                                     the correlation of IMs with response quantities of seismic-isolated                                         T ¼ 2p W                                   ð1Þ
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              kd g
                                                                                                                                                     systems should be investigated separately for ordinary and pulse-like
                                                                                                                                                     ground motions. However, it should not be forgotten that the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    The MID, Dmax in Fig. 2, is determined following an iterative
                                                                                                                                                     earthquake hazard at any site cannot be associated purely with pulse-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    procedure in compliance with the code (ASCE 2005) requirements
                                                                                                                                                     like or ordinary ground motions. Thus, any IM that works well only
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    for stability and strength. Detailed information about the iterative
                                                                                                                                                     for pulse-like motions but not for ordinary motions (and vice versa)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    procedure can be found Ozdemir et al. (2011). In the analyses,
                                                                                                                                                     can be misleading in probabilistic seismic analysis. Therefore, it is
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    various T and Qd =W values are employed to cover a wide range of
                                                                                                                                                     meaningful to differentiate two types of motions in studying the MID-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    probable cases representative of typical bridge isolation systems
                                                                                                                                                     IM correlation with the emphasis on the IMs that work for both types
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    (Warn and Whittaker 2004). For this purpose, four different isolator
                                                                                                                                                     of ground motions. For this purpose, the study presented herein in-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    periods, T (2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 s), and four different characteristic
                                                                                                                                                     vestigated the correlation between existing various IMs and MIDs of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    strengths, Qd =W (0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.09), are considered for SIBs
                                                                                                                                                     SIBs subjected to near-field records clustered as ordinary and pulse-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    with a total of 16 individual cases. In all of these 16 cases, a constant
                                                                                                                                                     like ground motions. Moreover, an improved IM has been suggested
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    value is assumed for Dy, which is equal to 25 mm.
                                                                                                                                                     to provide higher correlation between IMs and MIDs. The results are
                                                                                                                                                     believed to be useful for future studies, which aim to provide elaborate
                                                                                                                                                     methodologies for reliable seismic performance assessment of SIBs.             Description of Ground Motion Data
Fig. 1. Bent elevation and analytical model of a seismic-isolated bridge in the transverse direction
                                                                                                                                                     Earthquake                           Station                  Mw          d (km)        Component        PGA (g)        PGV (cm/s)         PGD (cm)
                                                                                                                                                     Kobe                  Takatori                          6.9         1.5             90           0.616           120.7             32.7
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Duzce                             7.4        15.4            180           0.312            58.9             44.1
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Duzce                             7.4        15.4            270           0.358            46.4             17.6
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Gebze                             7.4        10.9              0           0.244            50.3             42.8
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Yarimca                           7.4         4.8             60           0.268            65.7             57.0
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Yarimca                           7.4         4.8            330           0.349            62.2             51.0
                                                                                                                                                     Landers               Lucerne                           7.3         1.1            275           0.721            97.7             70.3
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Corralitos                        7.0         3.9             90           0.479            45.2             11.3
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                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Gilroy Array No. 2                7.0        13.7             90           0.322            39.1             12.1
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Gilroy Array No. 3                7.0        13.0             90           0.367            44.7             19.3
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Los Gatos Lexington Dam           7.0         5.0              0           0.420            73.5             20.0
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Los Gatos Lexington Dam           7.0         5.0             90           0.433            86.3             30.1
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Saratoga-Aloha Ave                7.0         8.5             90           0.324            42.6             27.6
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Saratoga-W Valley Coll.           7.0         9.3              0           0.255            42.4             19.5
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Coyote Lake Dam (SW Abut)         6.1         0.5            285           1.298            80.8               9.6
                                                                                                                                                     North Palm Springs    North Palm Springs                6.2         4.0            210           0.594            73.2             11.5
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Canoga Park-Topanga Can           6.7        14.7            196           0.420            60.7             20.3
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Canyon Country-W Lost Cany        6.7        12.4            270           0.482            44.9             12.5
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Newhall-Fire Sta                  6.7         5.9            360           0.590            96.9             38.1
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Rinaldi Receiving Sta             6.7         7.1            228           0.838           166.0             28.1
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Sylmar-Converter Sta              6.7         5.4             52           0.613           117.4             54.3
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Sylmar-Converter Sta              6.7         5.4            142           0.897           102.2             45.1
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Sepulveda VA                      6.7         8.9            270           0.753            84.5             18.7
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Sylmar-Olive View Med FF          6.7         5.3             90           0.605            78.1             16.8
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Sylmar-Olive View Med FF          6.7         5.3            360           0.843           129.4             31.9
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Tarzana-Cedar Hill A              6.7        15.6             90           1.779           109.6             32.9
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Newhall-W Pico Canyon Road        6.7         5.5             46           0.455            92.8             56.6
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Newhall-W Pico Canyon Road        6.7         5.5            316           0.325            67.4             16.1
                                                                                                                                                     San Fernando          Pacoima Dam                       6.6         2.8            164           1.226           112.5             35.4
                                                                                                                                                     San Fernando          Pacoima Dam                       6.6         2.8            254           1.160            54.1             11.8
                                                                                                                                                     Superstition Hills    ElCentro Imp. Company Cent        6.6        18.2             90           0.258            40.9             20.1
                                                                                                                                                     Superstition Hills    Parachute Test Site               6.6         1.0            225           0.455           112.0             52.8
                                                                                                                                                     Tabas-Iran            Tabas                             7.5         2.1            LN            0.836            97.8             38.7
                                                                                                                                                     Note: Mw 5 moment magnitude; d 5 depth; PGD 5 peak ground displacement; E 5 east; W 5 west; N 5 north; EW 5 east-west; LN 5 longitudinal.
                                                                                                                                                     ranges between 0.1 and 0.5 s. The ASI has a strong correlation with the       corresponding ordinate of the target response spectrum by more
                                                                                                                                                     structural damage for short-period structures. A different period range       than 10%. TD and TM are the effective periods of the isolated
                                                                                                                                                     is suggested to calculate the ASI for different types of structures           structure at the design displacement and maximum displacement,
                                                                                                                                                     having an intermediate fundamental period (Yakut and Yilmaz                   respectively (ASCE 2005). A similar consideration is followed to
                                                                                                                                                     2008). Similar to ASI, constant period ranges were suggested for              define Ti and Tf for ASI, VSI, and HI. It is assumed that Ti 5 0:5T
                                                                                                                                                     the velocity spectrum intensity (VSI) and the Housner intensity               and Tf 5 1:25T (e.g., Ti 5 1:5 s and Tf 5 3:75 s for a system with an
                                                                                                                                                     (HI), as given in Table 3.                                                    isolation period T 5 3:0 s.) to represent the period range for SIBs,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   where T is the isolation period. IMs denoted as modified accel-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   eration spectrum intensity (MASI), modified velocity spectrum
                                                                                                                                                     Proposed Period-Dependent Ground Motion                                       intensity (MVSI), and modified Housner intensity (MHI) are
                                                                                                                                                     Intensity Measures                                                            specified in a similar way to the ASI, VSI, and HI, respectively. The
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   only difference between ASI, VSI, and HI and their modified
                                                                                                                                                     Period-dependent IMs, namely, ASI, VSI, and HI are highly sen-                counterparts (MASI, MVSI, and MHI) is the period range defined
                                                                                                                                                     sitive to the definitions of Ti and Tf (Table 3), which are specified for       by Ti and Tf , at which the SIBs are considered to be effective.
                                                                                                                                                     the period ranges of structures for which they are considered to be
                                                                                                                                                     effective. When using ASI, VSI, and HI, structure-specific period
                                                                                                                                                     ranges need to be employed to obtain a higher correlation with the            Discussion and Results
                                                                                                                                                     seismic response of the structure. In this section, an effective period
                                                                                                                                                     range for SIBs is defined in a similar way as specified in the pro-             The MIDs of the SIBs, as a structural response parameter, are ob-
                                                                                                                                                     cedure followed by AASHTO (1999) and ASCE (2005) to scale                     tained from the results of the nonlinear dynamic analyses of the SIB
                                                                                                                                                     as-recorded ground motions to be used in nonlinear dynamic analyses           models in OpenSees (Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research
                                                                                                                                                     of seismic isolated systems. It ensures that for each period between          Center 2009). To quantify the correlation between the MID and
                                                                                                                                                     0:5TD and 1:25TM , the average of the square root sum of the squares          IMs for each ground motion set and the isolation parameters, best-
                                                                                                                                                     spectra from all ground motion pairs does not fall below 1.3 times the        fitted curves of the form given in Eq. (2) are utilized. The form of the
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       Bonds Corner                      6.5         2.7                     140           0.588           45.2             16.8
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       Bonds Corner                      6.5         2.7                     230           0.775           45.9             15.0
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       Brawley Airport                   6.5        10.4                     315           0.220           38.9             13.5
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       Calexico Fire Station             6.5        10.5                     225           0.275           21.2               9.0
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       Calexico Fire Station             6.5        10.5                     315           0.202           16.0               9.2
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       El Centro Array No. 2             6.5        15.3                     140           0.315           31.5             14.3
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       El Centro Array No. 7             6.5         0.6                     140           0.338           47.6             24.7
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       El Centro Array No. 8             6.5         3.9                     140           0.602           54.2             32.3
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       El Centro Array No. 11            6.5        12.5                     140           0.364           34.4             16.1
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       El Centro Array No. 11            6.5        12.5                     230           0.380           42.1             18.6
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       EC Country Center FF              6.5         7.3                       2           0.213           37.5             16.0
                                                                                                                                                     Imperial Valley       Parachute Test Site               6.5        12.7                     315           0.204           16.1             10.0
                                                                                                                                                     Kobe                  Kobe University                   6.9         0.9                      90           0.311           34.2               7.2
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Izmit                             7.4         7.2                      90           0.220           29.8             17.1
                                                                                                                                                     Kocaeli               Izmit                             7.4         7.2                     180           0.152           22.6               9.8
                                                                                                                                                     Landers               Lucerne                           7.3         1.1                       0           0.785           31.9             16.4
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Corralitos                        7.0         3.9                       0           0.644           55.1             10.8
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Gilroy Array No. 2                7.0        13.7                       0           0.367           32.9               7.2
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Gilroy Array No. 3                7.0        13.0                       0           0.555           35.7               8.3
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Gilroy Array No. 4                7.0        14.3                       0           0.417           38.8               7.1
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Gilroy Array No. 4                7.0        14.3                      90           0.212           37.9             10.1
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           UCSC Lick Observatory             7.0        18.4                       0           0.450           18.7               3.8
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           UCSC Lick Observatory             7.0        18.4                      90           0.395           17.5               5.0
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Saratoga-Aloha Avenue             7.0         8.5                       0           0.513           41.2             16.2
                                                                                                                                                     Loma Prieta           Saratoga-W Valley Coll.           7.0         9.3                     270           0.332           61.5             36.3
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Anderson Dam (downstream)         6.1         3.3                     250           0.423           25.3               4.6
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Anderson Dam (downstream)         6.1         3.3                     340           0.289           27.6               6.3
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Coyote Lake Dam (SW Abut)         6.1         0.5                     195           0.711           51.6             12.0
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Gilroy Array No. 4                6.1         5.7                     270           0.224           19.3               4.3
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Gilroy Array No. 4                6.1         5.7                     360           0.348           17.4               3.1
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Gilroy Array No. 6                6.1         9.9                       0           0.222           11.4               2.5
                                                                                                                                                     Morgan Hill           Gilroy Array No. 6                6.1         9.9                      90           0.292           36.7               6.1
                                                                                                                                                     North Palm Springs    North Palm Springs                6.2         4.0                     300           0.694           33.8               3.9
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Canoga Park-Topanga Can           6.7        14.7                     106           0.356           32.1               9.1
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Canyon Country-W Lost Cany        6.7        12.4                       0           0.410           43.0             11.7
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Newhall-Fire Sta                  6.7         5.9                      90           0.583           74.9             17.7
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Pacoima Kagel Canyon              6.7         7.3                      90           0.301           31.3             11.2
                                                                                                                                                     Northridge            Pacoima Kagel Canyon              6.7         7.3                     360           0.433           51.2               8.0
                                                                                                                                                     Superstition Hills    El Centro Imp. Comoany Cent       6.6        18.2                       0           0.358           46.4             17.6
                                                                                                                                                     Superstition Hills    Parachute test site               6.6         1.0                     315           0.377           43.9             15.3
                                                                                                                                                     Note: Mw 5 moment magnitude; d 5 depth; PGD5 peak ground displacement; E 5 east; W          5 west; N 5 north; EW 5 east-west; LN 5 longitudinal.
                                                                                                                                                     best-fitted curves is a power function, as considered by Riddell               of a linear relationship between the two data sets. Values equal to 1.0
                                                                                                                                                     (2007), to represent the nonlinear relationship between the response          indicate a positive linear relationship, and 21.0 indicates a negative
                                                                                                                                                     parameter and the IMs through nonlinear regression parameters a               linear relationship between the investigated IM and MID. Values
                                                                                                                                                     and b. Eq. (2) can be rearranged to perform linear regression between         close to or equal to zero suggest that there is no linear relationship
                                                                                                                                                     logarithms of the variables. In this case, Pearson’s linear correlation       between the IM and the MID. For the sake of completeness, it
                                                                                                                                                     coefficients (r) can be applied, as shown in Eq. (3), to quantify the          is assumed that r . 0:80 indicates a strong correlation, 0:80 .
                                                                                                                                                     correlation between the IMs and the MIDs of the SIBs, where n is the          r . 0:50 indicates a medium correlation, and 0:50 . r indicates
                                                                                                                                                     number of data points. Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient (r) is a       a poor correlation to quantify the correlation between the IMs and the
                                                                                                                                                     dimensionless index that ranges from 21.0 to 1.0, reflecting the extent        MID. In the following sections, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of
                                                                                                                                                     Sensitivity to Varying Isolation Period, T                                       is followed by the HI in terms of correlation with the MID among the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      period-dependent IMs. The correlation coefficient of the PGV is not
                                                                                                                                                     In this section, the sensitivity to the varying isolation period, T, of the      affected by any change in the isolation period for both of the ground
                                                                                                                                                     correlation of the MID with the considered IMs is studied. For this              motion bins. Fig. 5(b) also demonstrate that the PGD might be
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      considered a proper IM for predicting the MID of SIBs subjected to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ordinary records; however, it is the worst IM among the investigated
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ones for pulse-like records [Fig. 5(a)]. A decrease in the correlation
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      of the MID with the MASI, MHI, and SA by increasing the isola-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      tion period is more apparent. The EPA and ASI have a very close
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      correlation with the MID, which has a similar tendency with
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      acceleration-related IMs. This is an expected result because of their
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      perfect correlation among each other as well as the definitions
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      of EPA and ASI, whose effective period range (Ti 5 0:1 s and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Tf 5 0:5 s) is in the acceleration sensitive region. In Fig. 5(a), the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      correlation of the MHI gets worse compared with the HI for pulse-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      like GMs as the isolation period, T, increases. The period range
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      employed in calculating the MHI and the HI is the main reason for
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      the variation. Therefore, the period range used in the definition of the
                                                                                                                                                     Fig. 4. Mean maximum isolator displacement of seismic-isolated                   MHI is ineffective for pulse-like GMs and higher isolation periods.
                                                                                                                                                     bridges for pulse-like and ordinary records                                      The SA has an acceptable level of correlation coefficients for
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ordinary GMs. Although the SA results in a good correlation
                                                                                                                                                     Fig. 5. Sensitivity to varying isolation period, T, on the correlation of maximum isolator displacement and intensity measures: (a) pulse-like records;
                                                                                                                                                     (b) ordinary records
                                                                                                                                                     negligible amount of variation in the spectral shape of ordinary GMs             mean correlation coefficient of displacement-related IMs. Although
                                                                                                                                                     in the long period range, at which SIBs are effective. As shown in               displacement-related IMs have an acceptable level of correlation
                                                                                                                                                     Fig. 3, the standard deviation of ordinary GMs is in the negligible              (r 5 0:650 for PGD) for ordinary records, they have the worst
                                                                                                                                                     order in the long-period range.                                                  correlation coefficient (r 5 0:275 for PGD) for pulse-like ones
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      among the other IMs. Although the mean correlation coefficient
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      of the EPA, ASI (r 5 0:452), and the acceleration-related IMs for
                                                                                                                                                     Sensitivity to Varying Qd =W                                                     pulse-like records are better than the ones for ordinary records
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      (r 5 0:280), their overall correlation is not sufficient for estimating
                                                                                                                                                     In this section, the sensitivity to the varying characteristic strength of       the response of SIBs. This finding is consistent with the findings of
                                                                                                                                                     isolator, Qd =W, on the correlation of the MID with the considered               Riddell (2007), because IMs related to the acceleration sensitive
                                                                                                                                                     IMs is studied. For this purpose, the isolation period, T, is kept               region of the spectrum does not correlate well with the response of
                                                                                                                                                     constant (T 5 0:3 s), while the Qd =W ratio varies from 0.03 to 0.09.            flexible systems, where SIBs are considered to be one of the flexible
                                                                                                                                                     Figs. 6(a and b) show the variation of r as a function of the Qd =W              systems. The PGV has the best mean correlation coefficient among
                                                                                                                                                     ratio for both pulse-like and ordinary records, respectively. Similar            the velocity-related IMs, especially for pulse-like records (r 5 0:71).
                                                                                                                                                     to Fig. 5, the MVSI is the best IM that correlates well with the MID of          The mean correlation coefficient of the MVSI has the highest
                                                                                                                                                     the SIBs under investigation, as shown in Figs. 6(a and b) for both              ranking when compared with the other IMs for both ordinary
                                                                                                                                                     pulse-like and ordinary records, respectively. The MSVI is followed              (r 5 0:761) and pulse-like records (r 5 0:755). Although the VSI,
                                                                                                                                                     by PGV for pulse-like records, while it is followed by PGD for                   MHI, and SA have acceptable levels of mean correlation coefficients
                                                                                                                                                     ordinary records among the period-independent IMs. Furthermore,                  for ordinary records, they are not satisfactory for pulse-like records,
                                                                                                                                                     these IMs are almost not sensitive to any change in the Qd =W ratio,             especially for SA (r 5 0:50).
                                                                                                                                                     Fig. 6. Sensitivity to varying Qd =W on the correlation of the maximum isolator displacement and intensity measures: (a) pulse-like records;
                                                                                                                                                     (b) ordinary records
Fig. 7. Effect of GM type on the mean correlation of maximum isolator displacement and GM intensity measures