Analysis of Local Site Effects on Seismic Ground Response under Various Earthquakes

Abstract

By assessment of induced damages to structures and major infrastructures, seismic geotechnical researchers have concluded that the site conditions significantly influence on the failure distribution in urban and rural areas. Consequently, to determine the characteristics of seismic motions of the ground, it is essential to study the effective geotechnical factors. In this study influence of local site effects and soil conditions on the intensity of ground motion are investigated with two methods (non-linear and equivalent linear methods) based on one dimensional shear wave propagation in soil layer theory. In this regard, some series of site response analyses which consider various input motions, geotechnical parameters of site and non-linear properties were performed. The comparisons demonstrated that non-linear method provides a more accurate characterization of the true non-linear soil behavior compared to the equivalent-linear procedures. The earthquakes with Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA)less than 0.1 g have the most increase in horizontal acceleration at the surface in comparison with the earthquakes with greater peak accelerations.