PEER Research Highlight: "Development of the PEER Simulated Ground-Motion Database (PEER-SGD) for Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering"

May 31, 2022

The impact of a PEER funded project "Development of the PEER Simulated Ground-Motion Database (PEER-SGD) for Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering" is highlighted below. The project Principal Investigator (PI) David McCallen, Professor and Director of the Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research, University of Nevada, Reno. The Co-Principal Investigator is Floriana Petrone, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno. The Research Team includes Parmida Rahmani, Graduate Student Researcher, University of Nevada.

Download the Research Project Highlight which includes the abstract (PDF)

Research Impact

The development of an effective and efficient database of broad-band simulated ground motions will provide a nucleating capability for a broad group of researchers and practitioners to both explore and exploit simulated ground motions at unprecedented spatial density. There will be multiple opportunities for utilization of the simulated data ranging from selection of synthetic ground motion waveforms with desired attributes, for example simulated records containing near-field pulse-like motions, to augment measured earthquake waveforms within traditional hazard definitions (e.g. ASCE 7-16), to more advanced direct application of simulated motions in infrastructure nonlinear response history analyses. The ability to access dense motions will provide a new resource for exploration of the regional effects of spatially variable ground motion input for distributed transportation, energy and water systems, and to evaluate the effects of complex, three-dimensional site response, as opposed to traditional one-dimensional site response idealizations. Such datasets can provide new knowledge, help advance the understanding of complex earthquake phenomenon, and supplement the existing measured earthquake database, particularly for features that are not well constrained by the sparse database of measured motions, for example characterization of the spatial variation of near-fault motions. Most importantly, this work will help provide a core element for PEER community engagement that can be expanded upon as regional-scale simulation capabilities continue to advance.