On the Evaluation of EC8-Based Record Selection Procedures for the Dynamic Analysis of Buildings and Bridges

This chapter focuses on an assessment of the selection procedure for real records based on Eurocode 8 provisions, through a study of the performance of R/C bridges of the Egnatia highway system and of a multi-storey R/C building damaged during the Lefkada earthquake of 2003 in Greece. More specifically, the bridge was studied by using six alternative models and accounting for the dynamic interaction of the deck-abutment-backfill-embankment system as well as of the superstructure-foundation-subsoil system, while the building was studied in both the elastic and inelastic range taking into consideration material nonlinearity as well as the surrounding soil.

Furthermore, different input sets comprising seven pairs of records (horizontal components only) from Europe, Middle-East and the US were formed in compliance with EC8 guidelines. The results of these parametric analyses permit quantification of the intra-set scatter of the seismic response for both structures, thus highlighting the current limitations of the EC8 guidelines.

The chapter concludes with specific recommendations that aim at eliminating the dispersion observed in the elastic and more so in the inelastic response though appropriate modifications of EC8-proposed selection parameters.