• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.293-305
• /
• 2023

Three ground models are analyzed using a 1g shaking table and laminar shear box (LSB) to investigate the impact of the ground structure on seismic wave amplification during earthquakes. Multi-layer horizontal, embankment, and basin ground models are selected for this investigation, with each model being divided into dense and loose ground layers, Accelerometers are installed during the construction of each ground model to capture any seismic wave amplification owing th the propagation of an artificial seismic wave, sine wave sweep, and 10-Hz sine wave through a given ground model. The amplification of the tested seismic waves is analyzed using the observed peak ground acceleration and spectrum acceleration. The observed acceleration amplification in the multi-layer horizontal ground model is significantly higher the seismic waves that propagated across the dense ground-loose ground boundary compared with those that only propagated through the dense ground. Furthermore, the observed acceleration amplification gradually increases in the central part of the multi-layer embankment and basin models for the seismic waves that propagated across the dense ground-loose ground boundary.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.16 no.6 s.65
• /
• pp.486-494
• /
• 2006

The horizontal to vertical (H/V) ratio technique in spectral domain is a common useful technique to estimate empirical site transfer function. The technique, originally proposed by Nakamura, is proposed to analyse the surface waves in the micrortremor records. The purpose of this paper is to estimate spectral ratio using observed data at the seismic stations distributed within Southern Korean Peninsula from the Fukuoka earthquake including 11 aftershocks. The results show that most of the stations have fairly good amplification characteristics in low frequency band. However, some of the seismic stations show one (resonant frequency specific to the site) or several local peaks of amplification factors with narrow high frequency band. Even though the site amplification characteristics are important information, we should be careful to analyse the observed ground motions from the seismic stations which have several very high amplification peaks for the deconvolution of seismic source and attenuation parameters.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.35-41
• /
• 2009

It is necessary to consider the site amplification for estimating SSI (soil structure interaction) and seismic source with more confidence. The horizontal to vertical (H/V) ratio technique in spectral domain is one of several techniques to estimate empirical site transfer function. The technique, originally proposed by Nakamura (1989), is applied to analyze the surface waves in the microtremor records. However, the application of this technique has been widened to the shear wave energy of strong motions for estimating site amplification. The purpose of this paper is to estimate spectral ratio using observed data at the seismic stations distributed within Southern Korean Peninsula from the Fukuoka earthquake including 11 aftershocks. The results show that each station has the its own characteristics of the specific resonance, high-band, and low-band frequency. The characteristics of the resonance frequency is more important because the quality of the seismic records are dependent on the resonance frequency. The result can be used for the study of site classification and removal of the site amplification effects from observed records can give us more reliable seismic source parameters.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.10 no.7
• /
• pp.135-141
• /
• 2009

For more reliable estimation of soil-structure interaction and seismic source and attenuation properties, site amplification function should be considered. This study use the Nakamura's method (1989) for estimating site amplification though various methods for the same purpose have been proposed. This method was originally applied to the surface waves of background noise and therefore there are some limitation for applications to general wave energy. However, recently this method has been extended and applied to the S wave energy successfully. This study applied the method to the coda wave energy which is equivalent to the backscattered S wave energy. We used more than 60 observed ground motions from 5 earthquakes which occurred recently, with magnitude range from 3.6 to 5.1 Each station showed characteristic site amplification property in low-, high- and resonance frequency ranges. In the case of comparing these results to those from S wave energy, lots of information to the site classification work can be gained. Moreover, removal of site amplification can give us more reliable seismic source parameters.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.27-34
• /
• 2009

Site amplification should be considered in order to estimate Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI), seismic source and attenuation parameters with a greater degree of reliability. The horizontal to vertical (H/V) ratio technique, originally proposed by Nakamura (1989), has been applied to analyze the surface waves in microtremor records. Recently, its application has been extended to the shear wave energy of strong motion in order to study the site transfer function. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the H/V spectral ratio using the observed data from 9 seismic stations distributed within the Southern Korean Peninsula, from the Odesan earthquake (2007/01/20). The results show that most of the stations have more stable amplification characteristics in a low frequency band than in a high frequency band. However, each seismic station showed its own characteristic resonant frequency and low and high frequency. The resonant frequency at each station should be estimated carefully, because the quality of seismic data is dependent on the resonant frequency. It can be obtained more reliable results of seismic source and attenuation parameters, if seismic ground motions which deconvolved from site transfer function is used. The site amplification data from this study can be used to generally classify the sites within the Southern Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.161-171
• /
• 2017

Observed ground motions are composed of three factors such as, seismic source, attenuation, and site amplification effect. Among them, the site amplification characteristics should be considered significantly when estimating seismic source and attenuation characteristics with more confidence. The site effect is also necessary when estimating not only seismic hazard in seismic design engineering but also rock mechanical properties. This study uses the method of H/V spectral ratio of observed ground motion between target site and reference site called a reference site method. In addition to using the vertical Fourier spectrum of the reference site, we try out the horizontal Fourier spectrum as a new method in this study. We analyze H/V spectral ratio of six ground motions respectively, observed at four sites close to Yedang Reservoir. We then compare site amplification effects at each site using 3 kinds of seismic energies including S waves, Coda waves energy, and background noise. The results suggest that each site showed similar site amplification patterns in S waves and Coda waves energy. However, the site amplification of background noise shows much different characteristics from those of S waves and Coda wave energy, which suggests that the background noises at each site have their own developing mechanism. Each station shows its own characteristics of specific resonance frequency and site amplification properties in low, high and specific resonance frequency ranges. Comparison of the method used in this study to the others that used different methods can provide us with more information about the dynamic amplification of a site characteristics and site classification.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.399-408
• /
• 2012

To estimate seismic source and soil-structure interaction more reliably, site amplification characteristics should be considered. Among the various estimation methods, we used Nakamura's method (1989) to estimate site amplification. This method was originally applied to background noise; however, it has recently been successfully applied to S-wave and Coda-wave energy, and is applied to S-waves in the present study. We used more than 180 observed ground motions from 23 macro-earthquakes and then analyzed site amplification characteristics at eight seismic stations. Each station showed characteristics of site amplification properties in the low-, high- and resonance-frequency ranges. Comparison of the present results with those of other studies provide successful information regarding the dynamic amplification of domestic site characteristics and site classification.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.40-51
• /
• 2016

The problem has been pointed out that the domestic design response spectrum does not reflect site amplification, particularly in the high frequency bands, including the fact that site specific response spectrum from the observed ground motions appears relatively higher than design response spectrum. Among various methods, this study applied H/V spectral ratio of ground motion for estimating site amplification. This method, originated from S waves and Rayleigh waves, recently has been extended to Coda waves and background noise for estimating site amplification. For limited time of periods, 4 electric substation sites had operated seismic stations at two separate locations (bedrock and borehole) within each substation site. H/V spectral ratio of S wave, Coda wave, and background noise, was applied to 36 accelerations of 3 macro earthquakes (Odaesan, Jeju and Gongju earthquakes), larger than magnitude 3.4. observed simultaneously at each bedrock location within 4 electric substation sites. Site amplifications at the bedrock location of 4 sites were compared among S wave, Coda wave energy, and background noise, and then compared to the previous results from the borehole location data. The site classification was also tried using resonancy frequency information at each site and location. The results suggested that all the electric substation sites showed similar site amplification patterns among S wave, Coda wave, and background noise. Each station showed its own characteristics of site amplification property in low, high and specific resonance frequency ranges. Comparison of this study to other results using different method can give us much more information about dynamic amplification of domestic sites characteristics and site classification.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.25-34
• /
• 2012

In order to verify that the recently proposed two-parameters site classification system and the corresponding site coefficients are suitable for the local geological conditions in Korea, a comparison was conducted with current Korean seismic code, Eurocode-8, NYC DOT seismic code. The design spectrum of the current Korean seismic code is significantly amplified in the long-period range, whereas the other response spectra, including the proposed two-parameters approach, are significantly amplified in the short-period range, which is a typical geological condition in Korea. In addition, based on the results of site response analyses in the specific $10km{\times}10km$ area of Gyeongju, spatial distributions of site coefficients from site-specific seismic response analyses were compared with the proposed site coefficients, as well as those specified in the current Korean seismic code. The site coefficients ($F_a$ and $F_v$) from the current Korean seismic codes show significantly high spatial error distributions compared with those specified by the two-parameters site classification system. Therefore, the proposed system is suitable for regions of shallow bedrock including the Korean peninsula.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.36 no.7
• /
• pp.632-642
• /
• 2015

Seismograms are composed of 3 characteristics, that is, seismic source, attenuation, and site amplification. Among them, site amplification characteristics should be considered significantly to estimate seismic source and attenuation characteristics with more confidence. This purpose of this study is to estimate the site amplification characteristics at each site using horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio method. This method, originally proposed by Nakamura (1989), has been applied to study the surface waves in microtremor records. It has been recently extended to the shear wave energy of strong motion and applied to the study of site amplification. This study analyzed the H/V spectral ratio of 6 ground motions respectively using observed data from 4 sites nearby in Yedang Reservoir. And then, site amplification effects at each site, from 3 kinds of seismic energies, that is, S waves, Coda waves energy, and background noise were compared each other. The results suggested that 4 sites showed its own characteristics of site amplification property in specific resonance frequency ranges (YDS: ~11 Hz, YDU: ~4 Hz, YDD: ~7 Hz). Comparison of this study to other studies using different analysis method can give us much more information about dynamic amplification of domestic sites characteristics and site classification.