Quantification of source- and basin-induced surface waves effects on the seismic performance of nonlinear structures

The present paper focuses on the influence of Rayleigh and Love waves on the seismic structural performance of a simplified nonlinear beam structure representing a bridge column. The impact of surface waves in the structure is quantified directly by a coupled 3D SEM-FEM numerical wave
propagation simulation from the earthquake source to the structure using the Domain Reduction Method.
In the first step, ground motions, including basin-induced surface waves, are generated from a regional model containing the earthquake source and a simplified basin. Surface waves are extracted and characterized with the Normalized Inner Product (NIP) in terms of amplitude and
frequency content from ground motions at different locations inside the basin. In the second step, the seismic wavefield from the SE simulation is imposed in a FE model composed of a nonlinear structure placed over a portion of the basin sediments. The model considers soil-structure
interaction and structural non-linearity through a multifiber beam approach.
By placing the structure in different positions, the extracted surface waves and the structural damage can be linked to a specific location inside the basin. Therefore, the spatial variability of the structural damage and the surface wave characteristics can be quantified. Consequently, this work
evaluates if structural damage can be estimated only from typical ground motion intensity parameters or if other parameters associated with surface wave characteristics are necessary. The results show a correlation between obtained seismic damage with rotational components from
surface waves (torsion for Love waves and rocking for Rayleigh waves).