Effects of underground structures on amplification of seismic motion for sand with varying density

Osama Abuhajar, Hesham El Naggar, Tim Newson

In the proceedings of: GEO2011: 64th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 5th Pan-American Conference on Teaching and Learning of Geotechnical Engineering

Session: Earthquake Engineering & Geophysics

ABSTRACT: Kinematic interaction of underground structures can alter the ground input motion parameters. In this paper, the effect of box culverts on ground input motion is investigated with scaled physical modelling in a centrifuge. The centrifuge experimental program was executed to evaluate the ground input motion with different surface cases in dry Nevada Sand at different relative densities at 60g. Three earthquakes with different amplitudes and frequencies were applied. The results show that the presence of structures can cause up to 50% reduction in the free field Peak Ground Acceleration when compared to the structure field. This observation can be helpful when assessing the seismic hazard or evaluating the input ground motion for buildings overlying significant underground structures (e.g. culverts or tunnels).

RÉSUMÉ: L'interaction de cinématique de structures souterraines peut changer les données de sol font signe des paramètres. Dans ce papier, l'effet de buses de boîte sur le sol mouvement d'entrée est examiné avec le modelage physique gradué dans un centrifugeur. Le centrifugeur programme expérimental a été exécuté pour évaluer le sol le mouvement d'entrée avec les cas de surface différents dans le Sable de Nevada sec aux densités relatives différentes à 60g. Trois tremblements de terre avec les amplitudes et les fréquences différentes ont été appliqués. Les résultats montrent que la présence de structures peut causer jusqu'à 50% réduction dans l'Accélération de Sol de Sommet de champ libre quand en comparaison du champ de structure.

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Cite this article:
Osama Abuhajar; Hesham El Naggar; Tim Newson (2011) Effects of underground structures on amplification of seismic motion for sand with varying density in GEO2011. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{GEO11Paper727,author = Osama Abuhajar; Hesham El Naggar; Tim Newson ,title = Effects of underground structures on amplification of seismic motion for sand with varying density,year = 2011}