EVOLUTIONARY KANAI-TAJIMI TYPE EARTHQUAKE MODELS1

Y. K. Lin and Y. Yong

Center for Applied Stochastics Research
College of Engineering
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton. FL 33431-0991 USA

Abstract: A versatile mathematical framework based on the

concept of random pulse train is proposed for the modeling of
hypothetical ground acceleration in a future earthquake for
engineering design purposes. This framework is potentially
capable of incorporating various physical features arising
from propagation. reflection and refraction of seismic waves
in the ground. Three specific simplified models are then
investigated: an evolutionary Kanai-Tajimi model, a
one-dimensional elastic model. and a one-dimensional Maxwell
model. Artificial seismograms are generated from these models
to simulate the 1985 Mexico earthquQke. and the results are
compared with an actua 1 record. It is shown that a11 the
random pulse train models have an evolutionary spectral
representation which permits variation of both mean-square
i ntens ity and frequency "Contents. and that the random
vibration analyses of linear and nonlinear structures under
such exCitations can be simply formulated.

Introduction
The Kanai-Tajimi model for ground acceleration (Kanai 1957. Tajimi 1960)
has been used very widely in the analysis of engineering structures under
earthquake excitation. In its or1ginal form, the ground acceleration is
idealized as a stationary random process, having a spectral density

(1)

1 This paper also appeared in the Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol. 113. No.
8, August, 1987, reprinted herein with permission from the Amerlcan Society of
Civil Engineers.

Y. K. Lin et al. (eds.), Stochastic Approaches in Earthquake Engineering

Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg 1987
 175

This model corresponds to the acceleration of a mass. supported by linear spring

and dashpot in parallel as shown in Fig. 1. whose base is undergoing a
broad-band acceleration. The three parameters in Eq. 1. namely K. Wg and ~g

represent the spectrum level (normalized to unit mass) of the broad-band

excitation at the base. the natural frequency of the system~ and the ratio of
damping to the critical damping, respectively. These parameters can be adjusted
according to the earthquake magnitude. ground resonance frequency. and
attenuation of seismic waves in the ground.
The most attractive feature of the Kanai-Tajimi model is the ability to
simulate ground resonance 1n a very simple way. Ground resonance arises when a
seismic wave propagates through a stratified medium. and it is one distinctive
character which should not be disregarded in the modeling (e.g. Schu~ller &
Scherer 1985). The dominant nature of ground resonance has been demonstrated
amply in the records of a number of past earthquakes. including the recent
Mexico earthouake on Sept. 19. 1985. The Mexico records obtained at sites on a
t~ick clay-deposit layer over an old lake bed show a large percentage of ground
shaking energy concentrated around the resonance frequency of the clay layer of
approximately 0.5 cps (e.g. -Beck & Hall 1986).
Another attractive feature in the-model is the relative ease with which the
random vibration analysis can be carried out for a structural system under such
an excitation. The relationship between the input spectral density and the
output spectral density for a linear system is simple and well-known. For
nonlinear systems. the method of statistical linearization (See Spanos 1981) may
sometimes be implemented. making the linear spectral analysis applicable.
Perhaps. the most unrealistic aspect of the original Kanai-Tajiml model is
the implication that earthquake is a stationary random process. This deficiency
can be partially remedied by introducing a time-dependent envelope to the
original model as follows (e.g. Bolot1n 1965, Shinozuka &Brant 1969. Liu 1970).