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Parametric analysis of the seismic response of coupled tunnel–soil–aboveground building systems by numerical modelling

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Abstract

During an earthquake, the presence of tunnels may affect the seismic wave propagation in the involving soil and in turns the response of aboveground structures. At the same time, the vibrations of aboveground structures may create a complex interaction with the tunnel and, consequently, they may modify the dynamic response of the tunnel. Most of the published papers considered only tunnel–soil systems or only soil−aboveground structures; analyses involving tunnel plus soil plus aboveground structures (full-coupled analyses) are still very rare. The present paper deals with a parametric analysis: starting from a real case-history regarding the Catania (Italy) underground network, and in particular a cross-section including an aboveground building, the depth of the tunnel, the position of the aboveground building and the seismic inputs were modified in order to study their effects on the dynamic tunnel–soil–aboveground building interaction. Thirty different recorded accelerograms were adopted. Results are reported in terms of accelerations in the time and frequency domains, as well as in terms of seismic bending moments and axial forces of the tunnel lining.

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Abbreviations

a :

Acceleration

D :

Damping ratio

D s :

Soil damping ratio

D l :

Lining damping ratio

D e :

Epicenter distance

E s :

Soil Young elastic modulus

E s0 :

Soil Young elastic modulus at small-strain

E b :

Building Young elastic modulus

E l :

Lining Young elastic modulus

F :

Flexibility ratio

f 1 :

First fundamental frequency of the input

f 2 :

Second fundamental frequency of the input

f m :

Average fundamental frequency of the input

f s :

Natural frequency of the system

f 1s :

First natural frequency of the system

f 2s :

Second natural frequency of the system

f 3s :

Third natural frequency of the system

G s :

Soil shear modulus

G s0 :

Soil shear modulus at small strain

h :

Tunnel depth

M :

Dynamic bending moment

N :

Dynamic axial force

R a :

Amplification ratio

R a,av :

Average value of amplification ratio

t :

Time

T b :

Building predominant period

T s :

Soil predominant period

u 2 :

Horizontal axis

u 3 :

Vertical axis

V s :

Shear waves velocity

z :

Vertical depth

α r :

First Rayleigh damping factor

β r :

Second Rayleigh damping factor

Δ :

Distance of the building vertical axis from the tunnel vertical axis

γ max :

Maximum shear strain at tunnel depth

θ :

Tunnel centre angle

θ 1 :

Rotation of the mesh nodes around the axis orthogonal to the investigated plane

ν s :

Soil Poisson ratio

ν b :

Building Poisson ratio

ν l :

Lining Poisson ratio

ω :

Angular frequency

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy

    Glenda Abate & Maria Rossella Massimino

Authors
  1. Glenda Abate
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  2. Maria Rossella Massimino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Rossella Massimino.

Appendix

Appendix

This Appendix reports some additional results regarding the response of the whole system to the thirty inputs in terms of accelerations. More precisely, Figs. 14 and 15 show the influence of the tunnel depth and of the building position on the amplification ratio along the axis of the tunnel, respectively. Figure 16 reports the accelerations at points A; Fig. 17 reports the accelerations at points B and C. Figure 16 allows us to quantify the acceleration that hit the aboveground structure. Figure 17 allows us to quantify the frequent de-amplification through the tunnel.

Fig. 14
figure 14

Influence of the tunnel depth on the amplification ratio along the axis of the tunnel (A–B–C alignment)

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Fig. 15
figure 15

Influence of the building position on the amplification ratio along the axis of the tunnel (A–B–C alignment)

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Fig. 16
figure 16

Maxima horizontal accelerations at points A

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Fig. 17
figure 17

Comparison between maxima horizontal accelerations at points B (tunnel upper boundary) and C (tunnel lower boundary)

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Abate, G., Massimino, M.R. Parametric analysis of the seismic response of coupled tunnel–soil–aboveground building systems by numerical modelling. Bull Earthquake Eng 15, 443–467 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-016-9975-7

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