An Efficient Algorithm to Identify Strong Pulse-Like Ground Motions Based on the Smoothed Significant Velocity Half-Cycles

This study proposes a new algorithm based on the smoothed Significant Velocity Half-Cycles for efficient and accurate identification of pulse-like velocity ground motions. The empirical-mode decomposition (EMD) based algorithm is initially employed with providing some valuable insights into its failure. Next, a concept of riding waves is presented and two additional criteria are established. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated to successfully exclude the ambiguous records with insignificant pulse characteristics when compared with six benchmark identification methods. This article also provides a dataset of 325 strong pulse-like records identified from the NGA-West2 database, which is practical importance in earthquake engineering field.