Realism and variability representation of scaled strong-motion waveforms

Ascertain whether scaling amplitude spectra of existing strong-motion records to match an expected target spectrum yields realistic time-domain waveforms and accurately represents the true ground motion variability.

Background

Because large-magnitude, short-distance recordings are limited, practitioners often scale amplitude spectra of existing strong-motion records to achieve target spectra for engineering analyses. This approach is widely used to construct waveform sets for nonlinear structural analysis and performance-based engineering.

The authors explicitly state that it is unresolved whether such spectral scaling produces realistic time histories and whether the resulting sets capture the true variability present in real ground motions. Addressing this question is important for validating current selection-and-scaling practices.