Broadband seismic isolation effect of three-dimensional seismic metamaterials in a semi-infinite foundation: modelled by fast multipole indirect boundary element method

Abstract

In this study, a fast multipole indirect boundary element method (FM-IBEM) is developed for studying the scattering of seismic waves by 3-D seismic metamaterials (SMs), and a 3-D rock soil composite seismic metamaterial (RSCSM) is proposed. Based on the indirect boundary element method, the fast multipole expansion technique is adopted to reduce the calculation time and memory requirements, and effectively solve the broadband scattering problem of seismic waves by large-scale SMs. The bandgap characteristics of three-dimensional SM are studied in detail, and the effects of the geometric and material parameters on the isolation effect of SMs are investigated. The results show that RSCSM can attenuate the ultralow frequency of a seismic wave, the bandgap width is 0.5–19 Hz, and the isolation effect is 37%. The cell size and material parameters significantly affect the bandgap characteristics of the RSCSM. This type of seismic metamaterial provides a new technique for seismic wave isolation and could be applied in engineering structures.