Numerical analysis of the effects of a wall barrier with eco-line spheres on diverting the rupture path of a 45-degree reverse dip-slip fault
Nima Ajeli Lahiji
1
(
‏Faculty of Civil & Earth Resources Engineering, Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.
)
Behnam Adhami
2
(
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil & Earth Resources Engineering, Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.
)
Gholamreza Ghodrati Amiri
3
(
Natural Disasters Prevention Research Center, School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science & Technology, Tehran, Iran.
)
Elham Rajabi
4
(
Department of Civil Engineering, Tafresh University, Tafresh, Iran.
)
Keywords: Finite elements, faulting, barrier wall, rupture path diversion, eco-line spheres,
Abstract :
Passing through the different soil layers, earthquake-induced faulting can reach the ground surface and cause serious damage to infrastructure, especially bridge structures. Therefore, it is necessary to divert the rupture path from the vicinity of the structure using modern techniques. Embedding a barrier wall on the rupture path is an efficient solution to mitigate the secondary effects of this phenomenon (such as ground surface displacements, and foundation and pier rotations). In this paper, a numerical study is carried out on a barrier wall filled with eco-line spheres near a concrete bridge foundation as a novel faulting rupture path diversion technique. Moreover, the effects of different parameters including changes in width, depth, and barrier wall-bridge foundation distance on rupture path, 45-degree reverse dip-slip fault, and changes in the vertical displacement and the rotation of the foundation have been studied. The results have shown that when the barrier wall is placed on the rupture path, it can effectively divert the waves and reduce plastic strains, soil strain energy, and ground surface deflections by up to 100 percent and mitigate structural response by up to 50 percent, hence effectively preventing damage to both the ground surface and the structure.