Seismic analysis of structures subjected to spatially varying earthquake using POD vectors: Experimental and Analytical studies

Structures, such as bridges, pipelines which are supported at multiple places, will be subjected to differential excitation. A significant change in the correlation of the motions between the two supports is due to the combined effects of wave passage, coherency loss and local soil conditions. In the classical formulation, the response is divided into quasi-static and dynamic components and the latter is usually evaluated by time history methods or modal analysis for a linear system. In this work, the feasibility of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) vectors as a replacement for the conventional eigenvectors has been discussed. The performance of POD modes has been assessed for the uncoupled system, system having closely spaced modes. The null space vectors of the POD modes generated from the response of the structure subjected to correlated input motion were able to predict the responses of the structures subjected to spatially varying input motions. The efficiency of using the POD vectors has also been verified with the help of an experiment conducted on a steel control and safety rod drive mechanism (CSRDM) which is an example of multi-supported and differentially excited structure.