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On the interaction of rayleigh surface waves with structures
Author(s) -
Simpson I. C.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
earthquake engineering and structural dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.218
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9845
pISSN - 0098-8847
DOI - 10.1002/eqe.4290060303
Subject(s) - rayleigh wave , rayleigh scattering , superstructure , surface wave , mechanics , mechanical wave , acceleration , physics , structural engineering , geology , longitudinal wave , wave propagation , classical mechanics , optics , engineering
A two‐dimensional soil‐structure interaction analysis is carried out for transient Rayleigh surface waves that are incident on a structure. The structure is modelled by a three‐degree of freedom rigid basemat to which is attached a flexible superstructure, modelled by a single mass‐spring system. The structural responses to a given Rayleigh wave train are compared with those that would have been obtained if the free‐field acceleration‐time history had been applied as a normally incident body wave. The results clearly exhibit the [frequency filtering] effects of the rigid basemat on the incident Rayleigh waves. It is shown that, if seismic excitation of a structure is, in fact, due to Rayleigh surface waves, then an analysis assuming normally incident body waves can considerably over‐estimate structural response, both at basemat level for horizontal and vertical motions and for vertical oscillations of the superstructure. However, in the examples considered here, relatively large rocking effects were induced by the Rayleigh waves, thus giving maximum horizontal accelerations in the superstructure that were of comparable magnitude for Rayleigh and normally incident body waves.