Parametric study on seismic ground response by finite element modelling

In this paper the results of 2D FE analyses of the seismic ground response of a clayey deposit, performed adopting linear visco-elastic and visco-elasto-plastic constitutive models, are presented. The viscous and linear elastic parameters are selected according to a novel calibration strategy, leading to FE results comparable to those obtained by 1D equivalent-linear visco-elastic frequency-domain analyses. The influence of plasticity on the numerical results is also investigated, with particular reference to the relation between the hysteretic and viscous damping effects. Finally, different boundary conditions, spatial discretisation and time integration parameters are considered and their role on the FE results discussed.