Earthquake response analysis of Ankara high speed train station by finite element modeling

A new train station is currently under construction in Ankara, Turkey. The building houses a shopping mall and a luxury hotel in nine stores while serving the function of train station. The earthquake response of the building is sought due to a typical earthquake which measured 5.3 Md and 5.5 ML on December 20, 2007. A finite element model of the building is developed for this purpose. A number of spring and damper elements whose characteristics are obtained from the soil-structure interactions are used to model the interaction between the foundation and the building itself. Spectral analysis is conducted on the earthquake time signature data measured in Ankara to obtain displacement amplitudes at corresponding frequencies for the N-S, E-W and U-D directions. These results of the spectral analysis are utilized in harmonic analysis on the constructed model. Also, transient analysis is conducted on the model subjected to the raw earthquake displacement data. Vibration amplitudes for a typical floor of the building are predicted due to this particular earthquake.