Seismic response of 3-D Gaussian-shaped valleys to vertically propagating incident waves

Abstract

S U M M A R YThis paper presents the results of a numerical parametric study on the seismic behaviour of 3-D Gaussian-shaped valleys subjected to vertically propagating incident waves. The medium was assumed to have a linear elastic constitutive behaviour. All calculations were executed in the time domain using the direct boundary element method. Representations of the amplification patterns of a valley were developed using both time-domain and frequency-domain responses. It was shown that wavelength and site geometry, including shape and dimension ratios and, to some extent, wave type are the key independent parameters governing valley amplification behaviour. Although 2-and 3-D valleys with similar shape ratios had similar characteristic periods, the 3-D valley had greater maximum deamplification potential and greater relative amplification potential along the valley.

Scattering of SH waves induced by a non-symmetrical V-shaped canyon

“…A few parameter studies show that the topographic effect of canyons on seismic waves is mainly affected by the depth‐to‐width ratio of a canyon, the type, the wavelength and the direction of the incident wave (Bouchon 1973; Zhang & Zhao 1988; Sohrabi‐Bidar et al 2010). Regarding the topographic effect of symmetrical V‐shaped canyons, Tsaur & Chang (2008) and Tsaur et al (2010) have executed a complete parameter analysis.…”

Seismic ground amplification by unlined tunnels subjected to vertically propagating SV and P waves using BEM

“…In this regard, Israil and Banerjee [43][44][45] introduced a new formulation which included simple and explicit kernels. Afterwards, Kamalian et al [46][47][48] and Sohrabi-Bidar et al [49] implemented modified kernels in site response analyses of topographic features. It should be noted that modified kernels are also used in this paper to solve underground structure's problems.…”

Antiplane Scattering of SH Waves by a Trapezoidal Valley with a Circular-Arc Alluvium in an Elastic Half Space

“…Compared to FEM, BEM may satisfy the Sommerfeld's radiation condition automatically because the dynamic fundamental solution is adopted. BEM is widely used for investigations of topographic effects [Wong and Jennings, 1975;Sills, 1978;Sánchez-Sesma and Rosenblueth, 1979;Hirai, 1988;Takemiya and Fujiwara, 1994;Bouchon et al, 1996;Luzón et al, 1997;Durand et al, 1999;Janod and Coutant, 2000;Zhou and Chen, 2006;Bouchon and Sánchez-Sesma, 2007;Chen et al, 2008;Sohrabi-Bidar et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2011]. However, there exists the problem of discretion of the boundary and numerical integration.…”