Probabilistic Average Approach for Stochastic Seismic Response Analysis of Soil Layers

In this paper, the currently used equivalent linear methods for calculating seismic responses of nonlinear soil structures are briefly summarized and some improvements are made. A new approach, the probabilstic average approach, is proposed. A numerical example is presented in detail by using all kinds of equivalent linear methods, including the proposed onet Monte-Carlo simulation method is appeied to examine the results. It is found that the concept of proposed method is more clear and the precision is higher than other approaches.