Analysis on the Seismic Response of Soil Slopes Based on the Multi-point Input Method

In general, the seismic response analysis in earthquake engineering assumes that the vibration parameters of the target and the contact surface of the external media are identical, i. e., single point input. However, earthquake energy has an attenuation phenomenon in wave propagation, so a wide range of soil slopes and the external medium contact surface of different input points on motion are not identical. If we consider single point input only, it may not correspond with reality, so it is necessary to carry out research on multi-point input methods. Based on the 2-D slope model, single-point input and multi-point input are performed respectively to analyze and compare their similarities and differences in the perspectives of the characteristics of seismic response of soil layer and plastic zone distribution to provide a reference for the seismic design of slopes. The results show that in the perspective of soil seismic response analysis, the peak acceleration output and peak velocity output under multi-point input are greater than the peak values under single point input at the same monitoring point, the peak appearing time is also earlier than that of the single point input; in terms of the plastic zone distribution, the multi-point effect is manifested as the presence of more obvious tensile shear failures; in the perspective of safety coefficient, the safety coefficient under each multi-point input is smaller than that of single point input, a difference of about 7% or so. In summary, multi-point input is more reasonable and practical than single point input, so multi-point input should be considered in seismic design.