Contents

Contents 1
List of Figures 2
List of Tables 3
1 Seismic Response 5
1.1 Theoretical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Types of Seismic Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Seismic waves and materials interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4 Factors inuencing ground response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1
List of Figures
1.1 Types of seismic waves, particle motion and in red sample of seis-
mic pulse as function of time: a) compressional (P-) wave travelling
in a block of material, b) vertical polarized and c) horizontal polarized
shear wave travelling in a block of material, d) Rayleigh wave travel-
ling in a section of the earths surface, e) Love wave travelling along
a section of the earths surface (after Steeples 2005). . . . . . . . . . 6
2
List of Tables
3
Chapter 1
Seismic Response
1.1 Theoretical background
Ground response analyses are most important to predict the ground surface
motions during dynamic loading, to evaluate liquefaction hazards and to evaluate
the earthquake induced forces which can cause the instability of earth and earth
retaining structures (Kramer, 1996). Ground response can be generally expressed
in terms of acceleration, velocity, or displacement parameters. A number of
techniques have been developed so far for ground response analysis in terms
of one, two, and three dimensional ground responses. Such analysis can be
carried out also by using numerical methods. Finite dierence method treats
seismic waves propagation in a bounded domain in which the region is discretized
into a number of grid points that have individual material parameters. The
wave motion at each grid point is evaluated by solving equations of motions of
discretized form (Takenaka et al, 1998). The basis of nite dierence technique
is the replacement of partial derivatives in space and time appearing in the
equations by nite dierence approximations.
The response of structure rapidly increases when it enters in resonance,
leading to serious damage. The response of those structures depends on their
Eigen frequencies as well as the characteristics of seismic event. Moreover, the
overburden above the bedrock plays a very important role in determining the
ground surface motion as they generally enhance the peak ground accelerations.
It is generally seen that weaker materials are subjected to high peak ground
accelerations than the stronger. It is suggested in the literature that the irregular
morphology is also responsible for the enhancement of ground response (e.g.
Paolucci, 2002, Athanasopoulos et al. (1998), Aki (1988, 1993), Sanchez-Sesma
(1990), Geli et al. (1988), Bouchon (1973), Boore (1972); amongst others).
5
6 CHAPTER 1. SEISMIC RESPONSE
Figure 1.1: Types of seismic waves, particle motion and in red sample of
seismic pulse as function of time: a) compressional (P-) wave travelling in a
block of material, b) vertical polarized and c) horizontal polarized shear wave
travelling in a block of material, d) Rayleigh wave travelling in a section of the
earths surface, e) Love wave travelling along a section of the earths surface
(after Steeples 2005).
1.2 Types of Seismic Waves
Dierent types of seismic waves can be generated by an impulse such as an
earthquake or an explosion.There are two category of seismic waves generated in
this way:
1.3. SEISMIC WAVES AND MATERIALS INTERACTION 7
Body waves, and
Surface waves
The body waves move through the interior of the earth. The stiness
and density of the material through which waves travel, determine the veloc-
ity of body waves. Surface waves are generally considered as the result of the
interaction between the body waves and the surface and supercial layers on
the earth.P and S-waves are the major types of body waves whereas Love and
Rayleigh waves are the major types of surface waves. Dierent types of surface
and body waves are illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 2.1.
P-waves are also called primary, compressive, or longitudinal waves and
are analogous to sound waves. The compression and rarefaction are the common
phenomenon to occur into the materials through which P-waves pass. The dis-
placement of the individual particles is parallel to the direction of the travel of
the P-wave. They can pass through the solid as well as liquid medium.
S-waves are also called secondary, shear, or transverse waves and they
cause shearing deformation as they travel through the material. The motion of
particle in this case is considered perpendicular to the travel direction of wave.
They cannot pass through the liquid medium. Based on the direction of particle
movement, S-waves can be divided into two components: S
V
(vertical plane
movement) and S
H
(horizontal plane movement).
Surface waves are most destructive as usually they have the strongest
vibrations. The amplitude of surface waves decrease exponentially with depth
(Kramer, 1996). Interactions of S
H
-waves with the soft supercial layers give rise
to love waves and do not have the vertical component of particle motion whereas
Rayleigh waves are produced due to the interaction of P and S
V
waves with the
surface and concern with vertical and horizontal particle motion. The depth
to which Rayleigh waves induce signicant motion is inversely proportional to
the frequency of the wave. The velocity of Rayleigh waves depends upon the
frequency content: low frequency Rayleigh waves travel faster than the high
frequency one.
1.3 Seismic waves and materials interaction
A wave which encounters the sudden change in material properties along its way
will respond by reecting and refracting them at the boundaries and reach dier-
8 CHAPTER 1. SEISMIC RESPONSE
ent parts of the earth through dierent path (Kramer, 1996). At the boundary
between two media, with contrasted acoustic impedance, the product of density
and seismic wave velocity, P and S seismic waves are reected and refracted into
two others P and S waves. The reection or refraction depends on the angle of
incidence and the impedance contrast.
The wave propagation across interfaces is based on the theory of Huy-
gens principle: all points on a wavefront can be regarded as point sources for the
production of new spherical waves. The new front is the envelop of the secondary
wavelets. From this principle, Snell and Descartes derived the refractions law,
initially proposed in optic but also applicable to elastic wave: The ratio of the
sinus of the incident angle to the sinus of the refracted angle is equal to the ratio
of the velocity of both media. Applying this law to both reected and refracted
P and S-waves gives Equation 1.1 and Equation 1.2
Sin(i
p
)
V
p
.
1
=
Sin(r
p
)
V
p
.
2
(1.1)
Sin(i
s
)
V
s
.
1
=
Sin(r
s
)
V
s
.
2
(1.2)
The angle of incident wave governs the angle of energy of the outgoing
wave in the next layer and the angle of reection and energy back into the layer
of origin. The orientation of an inclined body wave can strongly inuence how
energy is reected and transmitted across an interface that acts as the boundaries
between the geological materials (Kramer, 1996). According to Snells law, waves
propagating upward through horizontal layers of successively lower velocities will
be refracted closer and closer to a vertical path. For an angle of critical incidence
(i
c
), Sin(r) becomes equal to 1 and the refracted wave propagates along the
interface at the velocity V
2
. This wave, which is called the critical refraction,
sends back critical reections at angle i
c
. For an angle of incidence greater than
critical incidence (i
c
), the incident wave is no longer refracted and it is completely
reected.
Static and dynamic deformations are two types of deformations that
can be found during an earthquake. Static deformation refers to the permanent
displacement of the ground due to the waves whereas the dynamic deformation
denotes for the radiation of the waves from the seismic event as it ruptures.
Usually, earthquake has maximum eect near the fault with maximum distortion.
Regarding the attenuation, geometrically surface waves attenuate much more
1.4. FACTORS INFLUENCING GROUND RESPONSE 9
slowly than the body waves. The attenuation of seismic wave also depends on
the plasticity of the material (Kramer, 1996).
1.4 Factors inuencing ground response
Generally, ground response is controlled by the three dimensional geometry of
the subsurface and surface material as well as by the interaction between source,
path and site eects. The site conditions have strong inuence on the important
characteristics of the event including amplitude, frequency content, and duration.
According to literatures, ground response is dependent on the following three
factors:
1. Source eect
2. Path eect
3. Site eect
Those three eects are described in the following sections.
Source eect
The spatial and temporal behaviour of the slip on the fault or faults that rupture
in an earthquake is central to predicting the ground motion (Brown, 2001). The
source eect is dependent on the input motion characteristics (earthquake source)
as well as the frequency and wavelength of the source wave. In general, the
ground response is maximum near to the epicentre and closer to the hypocenter
than the farther distance and is directly proportional to the earthquake intensity
itself. Similarly, the earthquake magnitude also inuences the ground motion.
Generally, the higher the magnitude, longer the total duration. However, for
strong motion duration this is not so at sites near the fault for very strong
earthquakes because those parts far away from the site close to the fault will add
almost nothing to the maximum peak acceleration from the nearby part of the
fault due to attenuation (Hu et al, 1996).
Resonance is the most important factors for controlling the magnitude
of amplications of the ground and structure. It is dened, as the condition in
which the period of vibration of an earthquake induced ground shaking is equal
to the natural period of vibration of the structure. When resonance occurs,
the shaking response of the structure is enhanced and the amplitude of the
10 CHAPTER 1. SEISMIC RESPONSE
vibration of the building or any other structure rapidly increases. Tall buildings
and other large structures respond most to ground shaking that has a high period
of vibration and small structures respond most to low period shaking (Day, 2002).
The resonance eect can also be explained in terms of frequency. When the
natural frequency of the structure coincides with the frequency of input signals,
resonance occurs. However, resonance is the combine eect of source, path, and
site conditions.
The type of the incident wave inuences the ground motion as well.
Amplication is higher for the incident s-waves than for p-waves and larger for
SV waves than for SH waves (Geli et al., 1988).
Path eect
Path eects modify the seismic wave eld as it propagates through the complex
crust of the earth and have a strong, often dominant inuence on strong ground
motion. Though seismic waves are referred to as elastic waves, anelastic eects
due to energy losses (like inter-particle friction), which give rise to the attenuation
of seismic waves, cannot be neglected. The eect of attenuation on ground
motion is profound because the same soft materials near the earths surface that
lead to strong amplication of ground motion can also lead to rapid attenuation
(Aki and Richards, 1980). Damping is the important parameter to be considered
for the path eects. If the damping ratio is high, the ground response at farther
distance from the epicentre will be inuenced more as the energy content of
the wave will be reduced greatly and the ground amplication will be reduced.
Damping aects the response at high frequency more than at lower frequencies.
The attenuation of the wave amplitude with distance are caused by (Kramer,
1996):
1. Material or viscous damping: Absorption of the energy by the materials
through which it travels.
2. Geometry of the wave propagation (radiation damping): Spreading of wave
energy over a greater volume of material as it travels away from the source.
Damping occurs even at very low strain levels, and thus damping ratio
never becomes zero. According to Kramer (1996), the damping ratio increases
with the reduction of the ground plasticity index, void ratio, geologic age, and
conning pressure.
1.4. FACTORS INFLUENCING GROUND RESPONSE 11
Site eects
Site eects generally refer to the eects on ground motion when seismic waves
interact with the complex geological environment in the shallowest 100 or so
meters of the earths crust. The low seismic velocities and impedances in shal-
low sediments can lead to extremely large and locally varying amplitudes during
ground motion. Moreover, in this domain wave propagation during ground mo-
tion is often nonlinear and can lead to strong amplitude dependent attenuation
eects (The National Academies press, 2003). It has been often reported that
the buildings located on hilltops suer much more intensive damage than those
at the base of the hills. Lot of literatures can be found on such phenomenon,
which is well documented for the particular devastating earthquake at particular
area. It is generally seen that the ridges of mountains are amplied more than
the base, but the surface topography eects are not fully understood that is
why no empirical relationships for these eects exist until now (Sanchez-Sesma,
1990). The important factors determining the site eects as observed by various
researchers in the past that are relevant with present study are explained in this
section.