Seismic Soil Classification and Elastic Response Spectra

Abstract eng:
The Chile-Maule earthquake of February 27, 2010, with a Mw = 8.8, confirmed the well-known fact that the geotechnical characteristics of soil deposits significantly affect the seismic response at the ground surface. Using the available information consisting of boreholes, shear wave velocity profiles, measurements of the fundamental period via spectral ratio method (H/V) and acceleration records, a methodology to estimate the elastic spectrum of pseudo-acceleration of a site is presented. In this paper, the limitations of V S30 (shear wave velocity of the upper 30 m of the ground) as a key parameter to estimate the site effect is discussed. Alternatively, the coupled use of two parameters to estimate the site effect is introduced. These parameters correspond to the equivalent shear wave velocity of the upper 30 m of the ground (shear wave velocity that reproduces the fundamental period of the upper 30 m of the soil deposit) and the predominant period of the site, which is evaluated through ambient noise measurements, applying the H/V spectral ratio technique.

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