Phase-Structure in Conditional Simulation of Spatially Varying Ground Motion and Possible Influence on Structural Demand

Recorded ground motion is nonstationary in both intensity and frequency contents. Two methodologies were reported by the authors elsewhere for generating spatially varying ground motion (SVGM), namely, (i) auto-spectral density (ASD)-based framework, and (ii) evolutionary power-spectral density (EPSD)-based framework. While the former framework imparts nonstationarity through a uniform modulation (that accounts for nonstationarity only in intensities), the latter framework accounts for nonstationarity in both intensity and frequency contents. Reported EPSD-based framework was modeled through a decay function and a random component and was investigated only in the context of horizontal ground motion. Reported EPSD-based framework made two strong assumptions that need further investigation: (i) spatial variation of the random component was assumed to be frequency independent; and (ii) phase-structure of the ground excitation simulated around the reference station (with seed motion) was assumed to be same as that of the seed motion. This paper investigates the possible impact of these two assumptions on the simulated SVGM through appropriately revising the framework and introducing the phase-structure accordingly. Possible effects of the phase-structure on structural demand are investigated through an idealized long-span bridge. Revised EPSD-based framework is next assessed against the vertical recordings of SMART1 array along with the auto-spectral density (ASD) framework. Though spectral representation is nearly identical in both the frameworks, the acceleration time series simulated using the revised EPSD-based framework matches the recorded data better when compared with the ASD-based framework. Possible effect of spatially varying vertical ground motion on the seismic design is investigated through the same idealized bridge model. Significant increase in the demand of axial force in piers and mid-span moment in the deck are observed. Although these inferences are contingent on the idealized example considered for illustration, the spatially varying vertical ground motion is expected to contribute significantly to the seismic design of long-span bridges.

Fast Inversion of the Earthquake Rupture Processes with Complicated Velocity Structure: An Application to the Earthquake of 2017 Mw 6.5 Jiuzhaigou, China

Due to the limitation of seismic station coverage or the network transport interrupted when the earthquake occurred, an accurate seismic shakemap may not be released to the public quickly. When the near-source observed waveforms for the intensity prediction technology used are incomplete, we synthesize the seismic waveform into observation waveforms. An accurate seismic rupture process is necessary to synthesize virtual station observations. So, we should release the rupture process as soon as possible after a large earthquake. Most large earthquakes occur at the junction of two or three tectonic terranes. With violent tectonic movements, fault basins and uplift zones are distributed on the edge of the plateau. With complex structural conditions, the 1D layered half-space velocity structure model could not meet the requirement of earthquake rupture process inversion. It takes much time to calculate 3D Green’s function with a 3D velocity model for the complete waveform inversion of the earthquake rupture process. To rapidly invert the rupture process as accurately as possible, according to the geological conditions of the station, we calculated several Green’s function libraries in advance. We extracted Green’s functions from these libraries for each site based on the sites’ coordinates once an earthquake occurs. The time we spend in extracting Green’s functions from several Green libraries equals that we spend in extracting Green’s functions from one single library. The applicability of this method was tested in the 2017 Jiuzhaigou M6.5 earthquake with complex structural conditions in the mountain uplift zone. With our model, the time we spent in calculating the rupture process was almost the same as that we spent with the 1D velocity structure model, which was far less than that we could have spent in calculating 3D Green’s function. The degree of fitting between the synthetic data and the observation data of our model was much higher than the fitting of the 1D velocity model, which means that the earthquake rupture process we determined was more reliable.

Study on Earthquake-Induced Sloshing Waves in Moraine-Dammed Lakes

Large surface water waves can be triggered in moraine-dammed lakes during earthquakes and may lead to the overtopping failure of moraine dams. In the earthquake-prone Himalayas, there are thousands of moraine-dammed lakes; their outburst may lead to catastrophic disasters (e.g. floods and debris flow), posing severe threats to humans and infrastructures downstream. This paper experimentally studied earthquake-induced water waves (EWWs) in moraine-dammed lakes and examined the effects of several factors (e.g. water depth, earthquake parameters, and uneven lake basin). The experimental results suggest that the EWWs positively correlate to the earthquake wave, and the maximum height of the EWWs increases by 10%–15% when the effect of the uneven lake basin is considered. Based on the experiment data, we derived a calculation equation to estimate the maximum amplitude of EWWs considering the basin effect, and proposed a fast risk assessment method for moraine lakes due to overtopping EWWs. Finally, based on the method, we assessed the failure risk of the moraine lakes located in the Gyirong river basin where the China–Nepal corridor crosses. The study broadens understandings of the risk source of moraine-dammed lakes.

Numerical Study on Wave Attenuation of Tsunami-Like Wave by Emergent Rigid Vegetation

The extreme surges and waves generated in tsunamis can cause devastating damages to coastal infrastructures and threaten the intactness of coastal communities. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, extensive physical experiments and numerical simulations have been conducted to understand the wave attenuation of tsunami waves due to coastal forests. Nearly all prior works used solitary waves as the tsunami wave model, but the spatial-temporal scales of realistic tsunamis differ drastically from that of solitary waves in both wave period and wavelength. More recent work has questioned the applicability of solitary waves and been looking towards more realistic tsunami wave models. Therefore, aiming to achieve more realistic and accurate results, this study will use a parameterized tsunami-like wave based on wave observations during the 2011 Japan tsunami to study the wave attenuation of a tsunami wave by emergent rigid vegetation. This study uses a high-resolution numerical wave tank based on the non-hydrostatic wave model (NHWAVE). This work examines effects of prominent factors, such as wave height, water depth, vegetation density and width, on the wave attenuation efficiency of emergent rigid vegetation. Results indicate that the vegetation patch can dissipate a considerable amount of the total wave energy of the tsunami-like wave. However, the tsunami-like wave has a higher total wave energy, but also a lower wave energy dissipation rate. Results show that using a solitary instead of a tsunami-like wave profile can overestimate the wave attenuation efficiency of the coastal forest.

Dynamic Interaction of Two Independent SDOF Oscillators Supported by a Flexible Foundation Embedded in a Half-Space: Closed-Form Analytical Solution for Incident Plane SH-Waves

This paper presents a closed-form analytical solution for the dynamic response of two independent SDOF oscillators standing on one flexible foundation embedded in an elastic half-space and excited by plane SH waves. The solution is obtained by the wave function expansion method and is verified by comparison with the results of the special cases of a rigid foundation and the published research result of a flexible foundation. The model is utilized to investigate how the foundation stiffness influences the system response. The results show that there will be a significant interaction between the two independent structures on one flexible foundation and the intensity of the interaction is mainly dependent on foundation stiffness and structural stiffness. For a system with more flexible foundation, strong interaction will exist between the two structures; larger structural stiffness will also lead to a strong interaction between the two structures. When the structural mass and the structural stiffness are all larger, the flexible foundation cannot be treated as a rigid foundation even if the foundation stiffness is many times larger than that of soil. This model may be useful to get insight into the effects of foundation flexibility on the interaction of two independent structures standing on one flexible foundation.