Input energy spectrum damping modification factors

This study examines damping modification factors (DMFs) of elastic input energy spectra corresponding to a set of 116 earthquake ground motions. Mean input energy per mass spectra and mean DMFs are presented for both considered ground motion components. Damping ratios of 3%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30% are used and the 5% damping ratio is considered the benchmark for DMF computations. The geometric mean DMFs of the two horizontal components of each ground motion are computed and coefficients of variation are presented graphically. The results show that the input energy spectra-based DMFs exhibit a dependence on the damping ratio at very short periods and they tend to be nearly constant for larger periods. In addition, mean DMF variation is obtained graphically for also the damping ratio, and mathematical functions are fitted as a result of statistical analyses. A strong correlation between the computed DMFs and the ones from predicted equations is observed.