About SeismoMatch

SeismoMatch is an application capable of adjusting earthquake accelerograms to match a specific target response spectrum, using the wavelets algorithm proposed by Al Atik & Abrahamson [2010] and Hancock et al. [2006] (see also Abrahamson, 1992). It is also possible to simultaneously match a number of accelerograms, and then obtain a mean matched spectrum whose maximum misfit respects a pre-defined tolerance.

This software can hence be used in combination with records selection tools [e.g. Iervolino et al. 2009; Dias et al. 2010] and records appropriateness verification algorithms [e.g. Bradley, 2010] to define adequate suites of records for nonlinear dynamic analysis of new or existing structures [e.g. Hancock and Bommer 2007; Hancock et al. 2008]. Users should refer to the vast literature on this subject [e.g. Bommer and Acevedo 2004; Watson-Lamprey 2006; Haselton et al. 2009; Katsanos 2010; Iervolino et al. 2010; Jayaram et al. 2011] for further discussion on the issue of selection, scaling and matching of records.

In particular, we suggest interested users to refer to the Introduction section of the paper by Al-Atik and Abrahamson [2010] for an insightful description of the rationale and advantages in the use of spectrum-matched accelerograms, noting also how in the publication by Grant and Diaferia [2012] it is demonstrated that spectrum matching does not seem to lead to significant bias in structural analysis results.

The program is capable of reading accelerograms saved in different text file formats. This collection of ground motion records can then be adjusted in a way that their spectral acceleration matches within a certain tolerance a pre-defined response spectrum.

Currently, the target spectrum can be created by following Eurocode 8 rules, by computing the spectrum of a specific accelerogram or by simply loading a user-defined spectrum. The following strong-motion parameters are then computed for the matched accelerograms:

  • Elastic response spectra and pseudo-spectra
  • Overdamped response spectra
  • Root-mean-square (RMS) of acceleration, velocity and displacement
  • Arias (Ia) and characteristic (Ic) intensities
  • Cumulative absolute velocity (CAV) and specific energy density (SED)
  • Acceleration (ASI) and velocity (VSI) spectrum intensity
  • Housner intensity
  • Sustained maximum acceleration (SMA) and velocity (SMV)
  • Effective design acceleration (EDA)
  • Predominant period (Tp)
  • Significant duration

In addition, SeismoMatch also feautures a module in which a user can combine many matched accelerograms in order to obtain a combined mean spectrum that fullfils the user's requirements regarding maximum and mean misfit.

Finally, and due to its full integration with the Windows environment, SeismoMatch allows for numerical and graphical results to be copied to any Windows application (e.g. MS Excel, MS Word, etc.), noting that the characteristics of the plots can be fully customised from within the program itself.