Effects of rainfall on soil–structure system frequency: Examples based on poroelasticity and a comparison with full-scale measurements

In this paper, a simple two-dimensional soil–structure interaction model, based on Biot's theory of wave propagation in fluid saturated porous media, is used to explain the observed increase of the apparent frequencies of Millikan library in Pasadena, California, during heavy rainfall and recovery within days after the rain. These variations have been measured for small amplitude response (to microtremors and wind excitation), for which Biot's linear theory is valid. The postulated hypothesis is that the observed increases in frequency are due to the water saturation of the soil. The theoretical model used to explore this hypothesis consists of a shear wall supported by a circular foundation embedded in a poroelastic half-space. This rigid foundation model may be appropriate only for the NS response of Millikan library. This paper presents results for the foundation stiffness, and for the system response for model parameters similar to those for Millikan library (located on alluvium with shear wave velocity of about 300 m/s). The foundation impedance matrix, foundation input motion and system response are compared for dry and fully saturated half-space, with permeable and impermeable foundation. The results show that for embedded foundations, the effects of saturation on the horizontal foundation stiffness are as significant as for the vertical stiffness, contrary to what has been known for surface foundations investigated by other authors. Further, the results suggest a 1–2% increase in system frequency of the first two modes of vibration, depending on the drainage condition along the foundation–soil interface. Such increases agree qualitatively with the observations.     

An absorbing boundary condition for wave propagation in saturated poroelastic media — Part II: Finite element formulation

In a finite element formulation for dynamic soil-structure interaction, an absorbing boundary condition is needed to model wave propagation towards infinity. When the soil is saturated, its dynamic behaviour can be modelled by means of Biot's poroelastic theory. In Part I (Degrande, G. & De Roeck, G., Soil Dynamics & Earthquake Eng., 1993, 12(7), 411-21), a local absorbing boundary condition for wave propagation in saturated poroelastic media has been developed. In the present paper, this boundary condition is implemented in an irreducible finite element formulation for a compressible pore fluid. Spurious reflections for oblique incident waves on the absorbing boundary contribute to the solution errors. Therefore, a spectral element method, based on classical analytical solution techniques, is used to assess the accuracy of the finite element formulation.     

Vertical vibration of an embedded rigid foundation in a poroelastic soil

This paper considers time-harmonic vertical vibration of an axisymmetric rigid foundation embedded in a homogeneous poroelastic soil. The soil domain is represented by a homogeneous poroelastic half space that is governed by Biot's theory of poroelastodynamics. The foundation is subjected to a time-harmonic vertical load and is perfectly bonded to the surrounding half space. The contact surface can be either fully permeable or impermeable. The dynamic interaction problem is solved by employing an indirect boundary integral equation method. The kernel functions of the integral equation are the influence functions corresponding to vertical and radial ring loads, and a ring fluid source applied in the interior of a homogeneous poroelastic half space. Analytical techniques are used to derive the solution for influence functions. The indirect boundary integral equation is solved by using numerical quadrature. Selected numerical results for vertical impedance of rigid foundations are presented to demonstrate the influence of poroelastic effect, foundation geometry, hydraulic boundary condition along the contact surface and frequency of excitation.     

Torsional response of a rigid circular foundation on a saturated half-space to SH waves

An analytical approach is used to study the torsional vibrations of a rigid circular foundation resting on saturated soil to obliquely incident SH waves. Biot’s poroelastic dynamic theory is considered to characterize the saturated soil below the foundation, which is solved by Hankel transform later. In order to consider the scattering phenomena caused by the existence of the foundation, the total wave field in soil is classified into free-field, rigid-body scattering field and radiation scattering field. According to the classification of wave field and the mixed boundary-value conditions between the soil and the foundation, torsional vibrations of the foundation are formulated in two sets of dual integral equations. Then, the dual integral equations are reduced to Fredholm integral equation of the second kind to be solved. Combining with the dynamic equilibrium equations of the foundation, the expressions for the torsional vibrations of the foundation are obtained. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the influence of excitation frequency, incident angle, the torsional inertia moment of the foundation and permeability of the saturated half-space on the torsional vibrations of the foundation.     

Dynamic stiffness matrix of a poroelastic multi-layered site and its Green＇s functions

Few studies of wave propagation in layered saturated soils have been reported in the literature. In this paper, a general solution of the equation of wave motion in saturated soils, based on one kind of practical Biot‘s equation,was deduced by introducing wave potentials. Then exact dynamic-stiffness matrices for a poroelastic soil layer and halfspace were derived, which extended Wolf‘s theory for an elastic layered site to the case of poroelasticity, thus resolving a fundamental problem in the field of wave propagation and soil-structure interaction in a poroelastic layered soil site. By using the integral transform method, Green‘s functions of horizontal and vertical uniformly distributed loads in a poroelastic layered soil site were given. Finally, the theory was verified by numerical examples and dynamic responses by comparing three different soil sites. This study has the following advantages: all parameters in the dynamic-stiffness matrices have explicitly physical meanings and the thickness of the sub-layers does not affect the precision of the calculation which is very convenient for engineering applications. The present theory can degenerate into Wolf‘s theory and yields numerical results approaching those for an ideal elastic layered site when porosity tends to zero.     

The influence of mesoscopic flow on the P-wave attenuation and dispersion in a porous media permeated by aligned fractures

In sedimentary rocks attenuation/dispersion is dominated by fluid-rock interactions. Wave-induced fluid flow in the pores causes energy loss through several mechanisms, and as a result attenuation is strongly frequency dependent. However, the fluid motion process governing the frequency dependent attenuation and velocity remains unclear. We propose a new approach to obtain the analytical expressions of pore pressure, relative fluxes distribution and frame displacement within the double-layer porous media based on quasi-static poroelastic theory. The dispersion equation for a P-wave propagating in a porous medium permeated by aligned fractures is given by considering fractures as thin and highly compliant layers. The influence of mesoscopic fluid flow on phase velocity dispersion and attenuation is discussed under the condition of varying fracture weakness. In this model conversion of the compression wave energy into Biot slow wave diffusion at the facture surface can result in apparent attenuation and dispersion within the usual seismic frequency band. The magnitude of velocity dispersion and attenuation of P-wave increases with increasing fracture weakness, and the relaxation peak and maximum attenuation shift towards lower frequency. Because of its periodic structure, the fractured porous media can be considered as a phononic crystal with several pass and stop bands in the high frequency band. Therefore, the velocity and attenuation of the P-wave show an oscillatory behavior with increasing frequency when resonance occurs. The evolutions of the pore pressure and the relative fluxes as a function of frequency are presented, giving more physical insight into the behavior of P-wave velocity dispersion and the attenuation of fractured porous medium due to the wave-induced mesoscopic flow. We show that the specific behavior of attenuation as function of frequency is mainly controlled by the energy dissipated per wave cycle in the background layer.     

Transient foundation solution of saturated soil to impulsive concentrated loading

The transient dynamic response of saturated soil under suddenly applied normal and horizontal concentrated loading is studied in this paper. The behavior of saturated soil is governed by Biot's consolidation theory. The general solutions for Biot equations of equilibrium are derived in terms of displacements and variations of fluid volume, using Laplace–Hankel integral transforms. The solutions in the time domain can be evaluated by numerical inverse Laplace–Hankel transforms. Selected numerical results for displacements, stresses, and pore pressures are presented. Comparisons with existing closed-form solutions for the elastic half-space are made to confirm the accuracy of the present solutions. The solutions can be used to study a variety of transient wave propagation problems and dynamical interactions between saturated soil and structures.     

Horizontal vibration of a rigid disk buried in a poroelastic half-space in contact with a fluid half-space

This paper addresses the horizontal vibration of a rigid disk embedded in a poroelastic half-space in contact with a fluid half-space using the poroelastic theory of potentials. The solution of this problem is expressed in terms of dual integral equations that are converted into Fredholm integral equations of the second kind and solved numerically. Selected numerical results for the horizontal dynamic impedance coefficient are examined based on different poroelastic materials, embedment depths, and excitation frequencies; furthermore, the results are analyzed for the cases in which there is and is no fluid overlying the poroelastic medium to examine the effect of fluid. The results of this study are helpful for designing a foundation embedded in the seabed due to dynamic horizontal forces.     

White球状Patchy模型中纵波传播研究

在球坐标系下用直接求解孔隙弹性方程的方法计算了介观尺度下空间周期排列的White球状Patchy模型中纵波传播问题.首先对纵波的衰减和频散进行了计算,并引入了物理学上声子晶体原理来解释高频时纵波在White球状模型中传播的异常现象.在含水饱和度和速度关系的研究中发现,在低频段用等效流体理论和Gassmann理论估计流体Patchy饱和岩石中的纵波速度完全能够满足当前地震勘探的要求.随后的具有相同含气饱和度但有不同周期的Patchy模型研究结果表明,随着空间周期变大,低频的纵波频散变得明显,纵波衰减峰频率向低频移动,但峰值几乎不变.最后,对单元外层含水中心含油的White球状Patchy模型和中心含气White球状Patchy模型进行研究、对比,发现孔隙流体流动对孔隙介质中的纵波频散、衰减影响显著.另外,在具体数值求解过程中用缩减方程组规模的方法解决了线性方程组严重病态得不到正确结果的问题.     

Diffraction of plane SV waves by a shallow circular-arc canyon in a saturated poroelastic half-space

An analytical solution for the scattering and diffraction of incident plane SV waves by a shallow circular-arc canyon in a saturated poroelastic half-space is derived by the wave function expansion method. The solution is utilized to analyze the dependence of the computed surface motions on the incident frequencies, incident angles, porosity, boundary drainage and Poisson's ratio. It is shown that, depending on the incident angles, the surface displacement amplitudes around a canyon in a dry poroelastic half-space and saturated poroelastic half-space can be very different. The surface displacement amplitudes of an undrained saturated poroelastic half-space are close to those of a drained saturated poroelastic half-space. For low porosity, the surface displacement amplitudes of a saturated poroelastic half-space are almost identical to those of a dry poroelastic half-space, and drainage condition has little influence on the surface displacement amplitudes. But for high porosity, the effect of drainage condition becomes significant, and for the same porosity, the displacement amplitudes of an undrained saturated half-space will be larger than those of a drained saturated half-space. Poisson's ratio is also an important factor affecting the surface displacement amplitudes around the canyon, both in drained and undrained conditions, but leads to larger effects for an undrained saturated half-space than for a drained saturated half-space. Large pore pressures are found around the canyon and their amplitudes depend on the incident angles and frequencies. Below the surface, the amplitudes of pore pressures are less than they are at the surface, especially for high frequencies.     

Dynamic response of a tunnel buried in a saturated poroelastic soil layer to a moving point load

The dynamic response of a tunnel buried in a two-dimensional poroelastic soil layer subjected to a moving point load was investigated theoretically. The tunnel was simplified as an infinite long Euler–Bernoulli beam, which was placed parallel to the traction-free ground surface. The saturated layer was governed by Biot’s theory. Combined with the specified boundary conditions along the beam and saturated poroelastic layer, the coupled equations of the system were solved analytically in the frequency–wavenumber domain based on Fourier transform. The time domain responses were obtained by the fast inverse Fourier transform. The critical velocity of the considered structure was determined from the dispersion curves. The different dynamic characteristics of the elastic soil medium and the saturated poroelastic medium subjected to the underground moving load were investigated. It is concluded that, for coarse materials or fine materials subjected to the high-velocity loading, models ignoring the coupling effects between the pore fluid and the soil skeleton may cause errors. The shear modulus and the permeability coefficients of the saturated soil as well as the load moving velocity had significant influence on the displacement and pore pressure responses.     

Scattering of SV waves by a canyon in a fluid-saturated, poroelastic layered half-space, modeled using the indirect boundary element method

The scattering of SV waves by a canyon in a fluid-saturated, poroelastic layered half-space is modeled using the indirect boundary element method in the frequency domain. The free-field responses are calculated to determine the displacements and stresses at the surface of the canyon, and fictitious distributed loads are then applied at the surface of the canyon in the free field to calculate the Green's functions for displacements and stresses. The amplitudes of the fictitious distributed loads are determined from the boundary conditions, and the displacements arising from the waves in the free field and from the fictitious distributed loads are summed to obtain the solution. The effects of fluid saturation, boundary conditions, porosity, and soil layers on the surface displacement amplitudes and phase shifts are discussed, and some useful conclusions are obtained. It is shown that the surface displacement amplitudes due to saturation and boundary conditions, different porosities, or the presence of a soil layer can be very dissimilar, and large phase shifts can be observed. The resulting wavelengths for an undrained saturated poroelastic medium are slightly longer than those for a drained saturated poroelastic medium; and are longer for a drained saturated poroelastic medium than those for a dry poroelastic medium. As porosity increases, the wavelengths become longer; and a layered half-space produces longer wavelengths than a homogeneous half-space.     

Angular and Frequency-Dependent Wave Velocity and Attenuation in Fractured Porous Media

Wave-induced fluid flow generates a dominant attenuation mechanism in porous media. It consists of energy loss due to P-wave conversion to Biot (diffusive) modes at mesoscopic-scale inhomogeneities. Fractured poroelastic media show significant attenuation and velocity dispersion due to this mechanism. The theory has first been developed for the symmetry axis of the equivalent transversely isotropic (TI) medium corresponding to a poroelastic medium containing planar fractures. In this work, we consider the theory for all propagation angles by obtaining the five complex and frequency-dependent stiffnesses of the equivalent TI medium as a function of frequency. We assume that the flow direction is perpendicular to the layering plane and is independent of the loading direction. As a consequence, the behaviour of the medium can be described by a single relaxation function. We first consider the limiting case of an open (highly permeable) fracture of negligible thickness. We then compute the associated wave velocities and quality factors as a function of the propagation direction (phase and ray angles) and frequency. The location of the relaxation peak depends on the distance between fractures (the mesoscopic distance), viscosity, permeability and fractures compliances. The flow induced by wave propagation affects the quasi-shear (qS) wave with levels of attenuation similar to those of the quasi-compressional (qP) wave. On the other hand, a general fracture can be modeled as a sequence of poroelastic layers, where one of the layers is very thin. Modeling fractures of different thickness filled with CO₂ embedded in a background medium saturated with a stiffer fluid also shows considerable attenuation and velocity dispersion. If the fracture and background frames are the same, the equivalent medium is isotropic, but strong wave anisotropy occurs in the case of a frameless and highly permeable fracture material, for instance a suspension of solid particles in the fluid.     

Rocking vibrations of a rigid embedded foundation in a poroelastic soil layer

An approximate analytical method is presented for the dynamic response of a rigid cylindrical foundation embedded in a poroelastic soil layer under the excitation of a time-harmonic rocking moment. The soil underlying the foundation base is represented by a single-layered poroelastic soil based on rigid bedrock while the soil along the side of the foundation is modeled as an independent poroelastic stratum composed of a series of infinitesimally thin layers. The accuracy of the present solution is verified by comparisons with existing solutions obtained from other researchers. Numerical results for the rocking dynamic impedance and dynamic response factor are presented to demonstrate the influence of nondimensional frequency of excitation, poroelastic soil layer thickness, depth ratio of the foundation and internal friction of the poroelastic soil.     

Steady-state harmonic response of a rigid plate bearing on a liquid-saturated poroelastic halfspace

Soil–structure interaction problems are typically modelled by assuming subgrade behaviour to be either elastic or viscoelastic. Herein, compliance functions that may be used to solve soil–structure interaction problems are evaluated by treating the subgrade as a liquid-saturated poroelastic material whose behaviour is governed by Biot's theory. The compliances are evaluated for the harmonic rocking and vertical motions of rigid permeable and impermeable plates bearing on a poroelastic halfspace. Comparisons are made with elastic solutions which assume the subgrade to be either completely drained or undrained. Also, solid and fluid contact stresses are reported for the poroelastic case and compared to the solid contact stresses for the elastic cases.     

Rocking vibrations of a rigid circular foundation on poroelastic half-space to elastic waves

A study is carefully conducted for the rocking response of a rigid circular foundation resting on a poroelastic half-space when subjected to seismic waves under the framework of Biot’s theory. The free-field waves, rigid-body scattering field waves and radiation scattering field waves are introduced to consider the complex behavior of the soil owing to the scattering phenomena caused by the existence of the foundation. The contact surface between the soil and the foundation is supposed to be perfectly bonded and fully permeable. Combining with the divided wave fields, two sets of dual integral equations elaborating the mixed boundary-value conditions are established, and then reduced to Fredholm integral equations. Therefore, with a semi-analytical method, the expressions of the rocking displacements are obtained. The numerical results of the rocking vibration of the foundation for incident P, SV and Rayleigh waves are presented. The influences of certain parameters, such as the permeability of the soil, the incident angle, Poisson’s ratio and the mass of the foundation, on the rocking vibration of the foundation are explored and studied. Different reactions are found when the foundation is excited by different waves.     

Two-dimensional translation,rocking, and waves in a building during soil-structure interaction excited by a plane earthquake SV-wave pulse

A two-dimensional (2-D) model of a building supported by a rectangular, flexible foundation embedded in the soil is analyzed for excitation by an incident plane SV-wave. The incidence is below the critical angle. The building is assumed to be anisotropic and linear while the soil and the foundation are assumed to be isotropic and can experience nonlinear deformations. In general the work spent for the development of nonlinear strains in the soil can consume a significant part of the input wave energy and thus less energy is available for the excitation of the building. We show that the energy distribution in the building depends on the nature of the incident wave and differs substantially between the cases of incident P- and SV-waves. However, for both excitation by a plane SV-wave pulse and excitation by a P-wave, we show that the nonlinear response in the soil and the foundation does not significantly change the nature of excitation of the base of the building. It is noted that the building response can be approximated by translation and rocking of the base only for excitation by long, strong motion waves.     

2D dynamic response of unlined and lined tunnels in poroelastic soil to harmonic body waves

The problem of harmonic wave diffraction by tunnels in an infinite poroelastic saturated soil obeying Biot's theory is studied numerically under conditions of plane strain and the effect of poroelasticity on the response is assessed through some parametric studies. The method is based on the theory of Mei and Foda, which considers the total field to be approximated by the superposition of an elastodynamic problem with modified elastic constants and mass density for the whole domain and a diffusion problem for the pore fluid pressure confined to a boundary layer at the free boundaries. Both problems are solved numerically by the boundary element method in the frequency domain. Results dealing with the response of a circular tunnel with and without an elastic concrete liner in an infinite poroelastic medium to incident harmonic P and SV plane waves are provided and compared against analytical ones as well as to those corresponding to linear elastic soil behaviour. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dam–water–sediment–rock systems: Seismic analysis

A computational procedure for two-dimensional finite-element analysis of dam–water–sediment–rock systems subjected to seismic excitations is reviewed. In particular, the semidiscrete approximation of the water–sediment–rock region on the upstream side of the dam by means of a hyperelement is described in detail. The sediment is represented in the hyperelement as a fluid-filled porous solid on the basis of the Biot theory of wave propagation in poroelastic media while the water is taken as a compressible, inviscid fluid and the rock as a viscoelastic solid. An application of the procedure to a study of the effects of sediment porosity and thickness on the response of a model dam to horizontal and vertical ground motions is presented and discussed.     

平面P波在饱和半空间中洞室周围的散射(I):解析解

利用波函数展开法给出了入射平面P波在饱和半空间中圆形洞室周围散射问题的一个解析解。半空间假定为无粘性流体饱和介质,满足Biot理论。采用一种基于实验数据的孔隙率和模量之间的线性关系来确定Biot模型中的介质参数。解答考虑了透水边界和非透水边界两种情况。对边界条件进行了数值检验,结果表明,随着级数截断项数的增大,边界残量衰减很快。解答为进一步研究入射波频率和角度、边界渗透条件、孔隙率、泊松比等参数对散射的影响奠定了基础。