Modeling long period ground motions and assessment of their effects on large-scale infrastructures
MODULATE is a research project supported by the Agence National de la Recherche (ANR), and coordinated by the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM). The project is concerned with the analysis and modeling of long period motions and their effects on large-scale infrastructures such as high-rise buildings, liquid-storage tanks and long-span bridges. Intense long-period ground motions are usually generated at large distances from the source and consist primarily of surface waves that arise when seismic waves encounter sedimentary deposits. MODULATE aims at developing a methodology based on the physics of surface waves, to describe the evolution of the spectral content of the ground motion at a site located in a sedimentary basin. 3D numerical soil-structure models that capture the particular dynamic characteristics of real large-scale structures will be developed for assessments of their performance when subjected to the ground motion model. The results of the project will allow the development of tools and guidelines to be used by the earthquake engineering community for more resilient designs of large-scale infrastructures.