THE PREDICTION AND USE OF PEAK GROUND VELOCITY

Abstract

Peak ground velocity (PGV) has received much less attention in the technical literature than more widely-used parameters such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) and response spectral ordinates. However, there are many examples of the use of PGV in engineering seismology and earthquake engineering, including as a parameter from which to estimate macroseismic intensity and structural damage. PGV is also employed in some methods for the assessment of liquefaction potential and, because of its relationship to ground strains, in the seismic design and assessment of buried pipelines. One of the most important uses of PGV has been in the construction of elastic response spectra. There are relatively few predictive equations for PGV, compared to those for PGA and spectral ordinates, but 25 such equations are reviewed and summarised. The issue of scaling PGV from response spectral ordinates is explored and it is shown that the common practice of scaling PGV from spectral accelerations at 1.0 second should not be continued because the ratio of the two quantities is highly variable. A more stable relationship exists between PGV and the spectral acceleration at 0.5 second response period; however, it is clearly preferable to estimate peak velocities directly and PGV equations should be derived together with equations for spectral ordinates in the same way as PGA.