Impact of time and frequency domain ground motion modification on the response of a SDOF system

Ground motion modification is extensively used in seismic design of civil infrastructure, especially where few or no recorded ground motions representative of the design scenario are available. A site in Los Angeles, California is used as a study site and 28 ground motions consistent with the design earthquake scenario are selected. The suite of 28 ground motions is scaled and modified in the time domain (TD) and frequency domain (FD) before being used as input to a bilinear SDOF system. The median structural responses to the suites of scaled, TD-modified, and FD-modified motions, along with ratios of he modified-to-scaled responses, are investigated for SDOF systems with different periods, strength ratios, and post-yield stiffness ratios. Overall, little difference (less than 20%) is observed in the peak structural accelerations, velocities, and displacements; displacement ductility; and absolute accelerations caused by the TD-modified and FD-modified motions when compared to the responses caused by the scaled motions. The energy absorbed by the system when the modified motions are used as input is more than 20% greater than when scaled motions are used as input. The observed trends in the structural response are predominantly the result of changes in the ground motion characteristics caused by modification.