In the second episode I will deal with seismic spectrum generators.
AutoPipe Advanced 2024 has the following standards available for spectral generation. It includes IBC, but surprisingly, it doesn't include ASCE7. Instead, it does have the basic European Eurocode standard and a strange Spanish standard.
Caesar II, however, has a slightly different list. It primarily includes ASCE 7 and IBC, but no European standards. Perhaps it's a sign of the times...
In this situation, the only thing that could be compared are the generation results according to IBC. AutoPipe Advanced 2024 only has the 2006 version, which is somewhat puzzling. However, Caesar II v14 has the 2021, 2018, 2012, 2006, and 2000 versions available. This shows that I can only use the 2006 version for comparison purposes.
In Autopipe Advanced 2024, you can generate a seismic spectrum for any point in the US. Simply enter the longitude and latitude (I entered data for the Midwest here), and the four data points needed to generate the spectrum are automatically populated. There's even a zip code option (!), but I haven't used it.
There is also a very useful option to refine the mesh by using the variable below:
As a result, we get this very nice graph:
Caesar II v14 has a slightly different menu. Note the Importance Factor, which isn't included in this standard. Its values depend on the type of building. I filled in the remaining factor values with the same values as those generated by the AutoPipe generator. In Caesar II, they must be entered manually, which is very tedious and can also generate errors.
The second factor not included in AutoPipe is Response Modification R, which is included in the 2024 IBC version. I don't have the 2006 version, so it's hard for me to say why AutoPipe Advanced 2024 doesn't include this factor.
Caesar II generates a graph but with much less density.
The huge difference in density and the inability to adjust it in Caesar II make the data range for spectrum plotting incomparable. Unfortunately, there's a significant drawback to Caesar II.
Comparison of acceleration results for several points gives satisfactory results.
