Engineering implication of ground motion A/V ratio

An earthquake data set consisting of 45 strong motion records was analyzed to investigate the significance of the peak ground acceleration-to-velocity (A/V) ratio as a parameter to indicate the dynamic characteristics of earthquake ground motions. It was found that the A/V ratio of ground motions is a viable indicator of the M (magnitude)-R (epicentral distance) relationships associated with the motions. Due to its tacit correlation with the M-R relationship, the A/V ratio provides useful information regarding the relative frequency content and duration of strong shaking for ground motions resulting from different seismic environments. In light of these observations, the implications of seismic ground motions having different A/V ratios on engineering design were discussed, and an example to incorporate this ratio into the specification of seismic design forces for building structures was illustrated.