Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.

com, ISSN 1743-3509

Effects of ridge-like surface topography on seismic site response G.A. Athanasopoulos, C S Zervas . . Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, GR-26110 Patras, Greece

ABSTRACT The effect of a ridge-like surface irregularity to the seismic ground response is investigated by using a 2-D finite element model subjected to vertical propagation of SV waves. The recorded accelerograms of four known earthquakes were used as the base excitation of the model. The result of the analyses indicate an amplification of spectral and time domain accelerations in the up-slope direction. The mean values of amplification factors at the top of the ridge ranged from 1 to 4.5 for the spectral domain and from 1 to 3 for the time domain. The results also suggest that the greatest values of amplification are developed when the base length of the ridge is two times (for gentle slopes) or equal (for steep slopes) to the incident seismic wave-length. INTRODUCTION The effects of surface topography to the seismic ground response has been the subject of numerous studies during the last two decades (Geli et al.*). These studies address, in general, the problem of the scattering and diffraction of seismic waves incident to smooth ridge - or valley - type surface irregularities, as shown in Fig. 1, and the resulting amplification or deamplification of seismic motion. A limited number of the studies examine three-dimensional configurations, (e.g. Sanchez-Sesma et al.^) while the majority treat the subject in a twodimensional form. Significant progress has been achieved on the subject of topography effects since the pioneering work of Aki and Larner^ who introduced a numerical method based on a discrete superposition of plane waves. Bouchon* and later Bard* and Geli et aU used the Aki-Larner technique to study the response of

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Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

R
Ridge - or hill-type surface irregularity

L.

Canyon - or valley-typ
' R P, SV, SH

_i__ surface irregularity

Figure 1: Incidence of seismic waves to an irregularity of the ground surface. irregular topographies. Using an integral equation method, Wong and Trifunac^ studied the problem of scattering of SH waves by semi-cylindrical and semielliptical canyons. Wong^ studied the problem of the diffraction of P, SV and Rayleigh waves by an elliptical canyon and a circular canyon solution of line sources in a half space whereas a boundary method was used by Sanchez-Sesma et al.8, for the solution of the same class of problems. Aki* used a simple structure of a wedge-shaped medium to illustrate the effcts of topography, Fig. 2$ An exact solution exists for SH waves propagating normal to the ridge and polarized parallel to the ridge axis, which predicts a displacement amplification at the vertex equal to 2/v, where the ridge angle is vn (o<v<2). Faccioli^ used this triangular wedge structure to model approximately ridge-valley topography, as shown in Fig. 2^ This simple model predicts

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

(a)

ft-

Figure 2: Approximation of ridge/valley topography by triangular wedges (Faccioli, 1991). an amplification at the crest relative to the base equal to v^/Vj and may be used for rough numerical estimates of amplifications at the crest of ridges or deamplifications at the bottom of valleys or canyons. Geli et al.* have derived amplification factors for a smooth ridge, shown in Fig. 3, with shape ratio s = h/1 = 0 4 for vertical propagation of SH waves. The ., plots in Fig. 3 show the effect of size ratio, k of the ridge (defined as the ratio of the base length to the incident wave length, L, i.e. k = 21/L) on the amplification factors at different points along the ridge. At the crest the amplification factor reaches its peak value (about 1 5 when k = 2, whereas at the slope points .) the nature of the response is complex (oscillating amplification and deamplification values) due to the interaction of incoming waves with the scattered waves in the wedge. Besides the analytical solutions mentioned above, the finite element method can also be used to study the surface topography effect on the seismic response. This method has the advantage of being able to model irregularities of arbitrary shape involving inhomogeneous and non-linear soil materials. Castellani et al. modeled a 2-D surface irregularity of trapezoidal shape, using finite elements and assuming vertical propagation of SV and SH waves. Their results are shown in Fig. 4 and indicate a continuous increase of amplification of horizontal accelerations when moving from the base to the top of the hill. It is worth mentioning that the amplification of SV waves is about 30% greater than for SH waves and at the top of the hill it reaches a value equal to 2 2 Hybrid methods .. combining a particle model with the finite element model have also been used for studying the surface topography effects (Ohtsuki and Yamahara^). Finally, a photographic recording of particle motion in a three-dimensional foam rubber model has been used for studying the effects of topography at the Pacoima Dam site (Brune^). The amplification of surface motion in a ridge-like topography has also been

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering k = size ratio L = incident wave-length -^ I

I
Bcii

s = h/1 = 0.4

c o o Ei "a E <

(3)

(6)

o u a E
2 3 4 k (4) 2 3 4 k

o. E

a E
1 2 3 4 k 1 2 3 4 k

Figure 3: Amplification of surface motion for a homogeneous half-space outcrop (Geli et al., 1988).

verified from measurements of acceleration at different points of a slope during actual earthquakes in Japan. Fig. 5 shows the mean values and standard error bars of peak horizontal accelerations from five earthquakes as a function of elevation across the ridge (Finn**). The plot of Fig. 5 indicates an amplification of the crest motion with respect to the base, equal to 2.5. Finally, it should be mentioned that the damage patterns observed after destructive earthquakes indicate increased motions on the slope and the top of hills, as expected from the theoretical predictions (Finn**). The results of the studies mentioned above, as well as of many others

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

SH

Figure 4: Surface amplifications of SH (left) and SV (right) seismic waves (Castellani et al., 1 8 ) 92.

1.2

? 1.0
FUDGE PROFLE
O.B

I u *
K0.4

& B I 0.2

50 100 ELEVATION (m)

150

Figure 5: Relative distribution of peak accelerations along a ridge from Matsuzaki Array in Japan (from W D L Finn, 1992). ...

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Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

(Finn**), indicate that the theoretically predicted values of amplification range from 3 to 4 in the spectral domain to less than 2 in the time domain. However, observed amplifications range from 2 to 20 in the spectral domain to 5 in the time domain. The difference between predicted and observed values is attributed to the influence of 3-D effects (Geli et al.*) but it may also be due to the fact that the measured amplifications are actually relative amplifications between points with amplified and deamplified motion. In this paper are presented the results of seismic response analyses of a ridge-like surface irregularity excited by vertical propagation of SV waves by using the finite element method. The recorded accelerograms of four earthquakes are used for excitation of the base of irregularity and the effects of size ratio and shape ratio of the ridge on the seismic response and the amplification of motion are examined. FINITE ELEMENT MODEL AND SEISMIC EXCITATION In this study the ridge - or hill-type surface topography of Fig. 1, was modeled by using the finite element program LUSH 2 (Lysmer et a ^ . This is a 2-D l) program for dynamic soil-structure interaction which can also be used for site response analysis. The seismic excitation (in the form of input acceleration time history) is applied at the "rigid base" of the model, which represents either actual or "equivalent" bedrock. Thus, the excitation of the model, represents vertical propagation of S V waves. The non-linear behavior of soil materials under strong cyclic loading is taken into account in LUSH 2 by the use of equivalent-linear method. Five different element meshes were used to model different shapes of a trapezoidal surface irregularity with values of shape ratio, s, ranging from 0.16 to 0.67. Fig. 6 shows the mesh used to model a ridge with base length equal to 96 m and shape ratio s = 0.17. Due to conditions of symmetry the mesh of elements extended to only one half of the structure . It is noted that the lateral extent of the finite element mesh beyond the foot of the slope was selected by trial runs such as to avoid any boundary effects. The recorded horizontal accelerograms of four, high magnitude and small epicentral distance earthquakes (El Centro 1940, Taft 1952, Eureka 1954, Kalamata 1986) were used as input motion for each finite element mesh. Fig. 7 shows the accelerograms of the four earthquakes as well as the corresponding acceleration response spectra. According to Fig. 7 the magnitude of the four earthquakes ranged from 6.2 to 7.7, the epicentral distance, d, from 6.4 km to 40

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Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

s =0 1 .6

Rigid Base
48m

Figure 6: Finite element model of a smouth ridge on horizontal ground surface. km and the peak ground acceleration from 0.18 g to 0.35 g. For each finite element mesh and each earthquake, the resulting seismic response was obtained for two values of low-amplitude shear modulus of the ridge soil material: G@ = 100 MPa and G@ = 600 MPa. The combination of the different frequency content of each accelerogram and the two different soil rigidities produced a wide range of predominant incident wavelengths which, in turn, when combined with the different sizes of ridge base, produced a wide range of size ratios, i.e. k = 0.15 to 5.6. The output of the program, for each case, included peak horizontal accelerations along the surface of the slope and at the top of the ridge as well as the corresponding response spectra. These results were obtained for each of the 40 cases examined in this study. RESULTS OF ANALYSES AND DISCUSSION The results of seismic response analyses obtained in this study can be best presented in normalized form. Thus, all values of horizontal accelerations in the time and spectral domains, obtained at different points across the ridge, were divided by the corresponding values found at a point on the horizontal ground surface beyond the range of influence of the irregularity. This division produced normalized values of surface and spectral accelerations which can also be termed amplification factors, as they express in a quantitative way the amplification of incoming seismic motion at different points across the ridge. The results of the parametric studies concerning the effects of the steepness and size of the ridge are presented in terms of the shape ratio, s, and the size ratio, k, of the ridge, which were defined in the previous section. It is noted that values of the incident wave-length, L, of the seismic motion were estimated from E . l : q()

() 1

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

CD hrt If

ACCELERATION, g ACCELERATION, g ACCELERATION, g

ACCELERATION, g

CD On> ~i P o

5s 3
CD g O g t: 8

3 &I CD O

ri 3 P'

rf Q n> 0

CO

I O p Z3 CL
SPECTRAL ACC, g
TD O

SPECTRAL ACC,g 08 S I . g

SPECTRAL ACC.g " i g I i

SPECTRAL ACC,g

g C P ff tn

S M P
S"

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering where: V^ = 7^,g* =

11

shear wave velocity in the soil material of the ridge predominant period of incoming seismic waves (obtained from the response spectrum at a point far from the influence of the ridge)

The value of shear wave velocity, y^ was obtained from

() 2

where: p = mass density of the soil material G = value of shear modulus after the degradation caused by non-linear effect All calculations were conducted by using a value of unit weight of the soil material equal to 20 After assigning numerical values to the size and shape ratios for each finite element mesh and each earthquake, the results of the response analysis can be presented in graphical form in the way shown in Fig. 8. The plots of this figure show the distribution of amplification factors, for spectral and time domains, across the surface of a ridge with shape ratio s = 0.16 and size ratio k = 1.51, subjected to the Kalamata 1986 earthquake. The behavior depicted in Fig. 8, which is typical of all results obtained in this investigation, indicates that the amplification of motion continuously increases when moving from the base to the top of the ridge. In the particular case of Fig. 8, the amplification factors at the top of the ridge become 5 for the spectral domain and 3.2 for the time domain. These results are in very good agreement (in both qualitative and quantitative manner) with the results of other investigators, mentioned in a previous section, indicating that spectral amplifications are always greater than time domain amplifications. It is worth mentioning that Fig. 8, in addition to values of spectral amplifications, also includes the corresponding values of predominant period of seismic motion. In the case of Fig. 8, the predominant period was not found to change across the ridge. The results of other analyses, though, indicated that for soft soil material the predominant period increased from the base to the top of the ridge, whereas the behavior was reversed for hard soil material. However, the results of a few other analyses were erratic and for this reason no definite conclusions can be drawn on this subject. The effects of the size and steepness of the ridge to the amplification of

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12

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering i l l I I PERIOD OF MAX RESPONSE, SEC

KALAMATA N10W 13-9-1986 M = 6.2 d = 15 km

k = 1.51 S = 0.16 T h=20m

Go=600MPa l=125m
sv sv sv

h=20m

Go=600MPa l=125m
sv sv SV

Figure 8: Spectral and time domain acceleration amplifications for a ridge excited by the Kalamata 1986 earthquake. ground motion were studied by utilizing the results of all analyses. The plots of Fig. 9 show the variation of spectral and time domain amplification at the top of the ridge, as a function of the size ratio, k. According to these plots, the behavior shows reasonance characteristics with the peak values of amplification developing when k = 1.5, i.e. when the base length of the ridge is 1.5 times the incident wave length. The best fit curves shown in Fig. 9 indicate that the spectral amplification may become equal to 4.5 at the top of the ridge whereas the corresponding value for the surface acceleration is equal to 3. The plots of Fig. 9 were obtained by taking into consideration the results of

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

! s p. ? o tn
1% *-h i-> R" p. O CL 3 OQ

AMPLIFICATION OF SURFACE ACCELERATION p ro 01 b o b b o o o i i.

AMPLIFICATION OF SPECTRAL ACCELERATION K> OJ en o b b o b o o o o o

CO

3 o

K K P o O
ro ft

o
oo en bo

P CL 3 (D CL O P

m (. 8 n t3 CTQ
O)b

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14

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

all analyses conducted in this study, including different values of the shape ratio of the ridge models. Since the effect of the steepness of the ridge slopes on the amplification of seismic motion is a subject not usually addressed in the literature, it was decided to separate the data shown in Fig. 9, into two groups with shape ratios approximately equal to 0.16 and 0.43 respectively. The plots in Fig. 10 depict the variation of amplification factors of seismic motion at the top of a ridge for values of shape ratio s ranging from 0.16 to 0.17. According to these plots, the amplification factors reach their peak values ( . for spectral and 48 3.3 for time domain) for k 2. The plots of Fig. 11, on the other hand, correspond to shape ratios ranging from 0.41 to 0 4 and in this case the .5 amplification factors become maximum ( . for spectral and 2.85 for time 39 domain) when k 0.85. The results of the analyses, thus, indicate that the amplification of ground motion across a ridge is more pronounced in the case of gentle slopes and obtain their peak values when k 2 . On the other hand, steeper slopes result in lower peak amplification factors and the critical value of size ratio is approximately equal to 0.85. Although the results of this investigation show very good agreement with the results of other studies mentioned in previous sections, they should be augmented by conducting analyses with a much greater number of earthquakes. Then, they could be used in practical applications, as in microzonation studies or seismic codes, for assessing the effects of two-dimensional ridge-like surface topography on seismic ground response.

CONCLUSIONS The finite element method was used for modeling and analysing the seismic response of a ridge-type surface irregularity under the vertical propagation of seismic motion recorded during four past earthquakes. The results of the analyses indicate that both spectral and time domain values of surface accelerations increase when moving from the base to the top of the ridge and they also depend on the ridge size. In all cases the spectral domain amplification of motion was greater than the one found for time domain and at the top of the ridge the average values, of amplifications for the four earthquakes used in this study, were 4.5 and 3 respectively. The peak values of accelerations were developed when the base length of the ridge was 1.5 times the predominant wave length of the incident wave motion. The results also suggest that the steepness of the ridge may have a minor effect on its seismic response. The results of this investigation are in agreement with results obtained by applying other analytical

Transactions on the Built Environment vol 3, 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509

f1
<D M P o*

AMPLIFICATION OF SURFACE ACCELERATION P fO O4 4* o b b b b b o _j_

AMPLIFICATION OF SPECTRAL ACCELERATION OJ 10 en p> o o b b o b b ,0 o o o o o

in c

9 P
pi 8

m
D- O 8 pr bO

8 ft 3' CfQ

P P. O

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CL 8

AMPLIFICATION OF SURFACE ACCELERATION jo en en Cn b O O O o O O

AMPLIFICATION OF SPECTRAL ACCELERATION p j-* jo e^ A en b b b b b b , 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i_i_i Lu

CO

p o ^ o o
RL o p T3 CL

en o

P o C/> P S3 Crn
00 II o W P

a 3 CL O % P p

P fflm (TQ
ro b oJO eno ff

o 2 S S: g* oo

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Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

17

or semianalytical techniques and could become a useful guide for the quantitative assessment of topography effects on seismic ground response. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to express their thanks to Professors D. Beskos and S. Anagnostopoulos, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, for making available the program LUSH 2 and for providing the accelerograms of the four earthquakes used in this study, respectively.

REFERENCES 1. Geli, L., Bard, P Y and Jullien, B. "The Effect of Topography on Earthquake .. Ground Motion: A Review and New Results", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 42-63, 1988 2. Sanchez-Sesma, F.J., Chavez-Perez, S. and Aviles, J. "Scattering of Elastic Waves by Three-Dimensional Topographies", Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, San Francisco, Vol. II, pp. 639-646, 1984 3. Aki, K. and Lamer, K L "Surface Motion of a Layered Medium Having an .. Irregular Interface Due to Incident Plane SH-Waves", Journal of Geophysical Research 75, 1921-1941, 1970 4. Bouchon, M. "Effect of Topography on Surface Motions", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 615-632, 1973 5. Bard, P.-Y. "Diffracted Waves and Displacement Field Over Two-Dimensional Elevated Topographies", Journal of R. Astr. Soc., 71, 731-760, 1982 6. Wong, H L and Trifunac, M D "Scattering of Plane SH-Wave by a Semielli.. .. ptical Canyon", Journal of Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, 3,157169, 1974 7. Wong, H L "Effect of Surface Topography on the Diffraction of P, SV and .. Rayleigh Waves", Bulletin of the Seismological Society ofAmerica, Vol. 72, pp. 1167-1183, 1982 8. Sanchez-Sesma, F.J., Bravo, M.A. and Herrera, J. "Surface Motion of Topogra-

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Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

phical Irregularities for Incident P, SV, and Rayleigh Waves", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 75, 263-269, 1985 9. Aki, K. "Local Site Effects on Strong Ground Motion", in Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics-Recent Advances in Ground-Motion Evaluation, (Ed. J.L. Van Thun), ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication, No. 20, pp. 103-155, 1988 10. Faccioli, E. "Seismic Amplification in the Presence of Geological and Topographic Irregularities", Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, St. Louis, Missouri, Vol. II, pp. 1779-1797, 1991 11. Castellani, A., Peano, A. and Sardella, L. "Seismic Response of Topographic Irregularities", Proceedings of the 3rd International Earthquake Microzonation Conference, June 28 - July 1, 1982, Seattle, USA, Vol. H, pp. 533-540, 1982 12. Ohtsuki, A. and Yamahara, H. "Effect of Topography and Subsurface Inhomogeneity on Seismic SV Waves and Rayleigh Waves", Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, San Francisco, Vol. II, pp. 655-662, 1984 13. Brune, J N "Preliminary Results on Topographic Seismic Amplification .. Effect on a Foam Rubber Model of the Topography Near Pacoima Dam", Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, San Francisco, Vol. H, pp. 663-669, 1984 14. Finn, L W D "Site Conditions and Seismic Response", Proceedings of the ... International Symposium, on The Effects of Surface Geology on Seismic Motion, ESG 1992, Odawara, Japan, March 25-27, 1992, Vol. I, pp. 3-31, 1992 15. Lysmer, J., Udaka, T., Seed, B H and Hwang, R. "LUSH 2 A Computer Pro.. gram for Complex Response Analysis of Soil-Structure Systems", Earthquake Enginering Research Center, Report No. EERC 74-4, Univrsity of California, Berkeley, 1974