Site-specific spectral response of seismic movement due to geometrical and geotechnical characteristics of sites

It is well-known that the response of a site to a seismic solicitation depends on local topographical and geotechnical characteristics. Many aspects of seismic site effect still need to be studied in more detail and they can be incorporated in the seismic norms after quantification. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to establishment of a simple method to include complex site effects in a building code. Horizontal ground movements in various points of two-dimensional (2D) irregular configurations subjected to synthetic SV waves of vertical incidence are calculated. The parametric studies are achieved by means of HYBRID program combining finite elements in the near field and boundary elements in the far field (FEM/BEM). The results are shown in the form of pseudo-acceleration response spectra. For the empty valleys, we can classify the spectral response according to a unique geometric criterion: the “surface/angle” ratio, where surface is the area of the valley opening, and angle denotes the angle between the slope and horizontal line in the above corner. To assess the influence of the 2D effect on the spectral response of filled valleys, the response of alluvial basins are compared with the response of one-dimensional columns of soil. Finally, an offset criterion is proposed to choose a relevant computation method for the spectral acceleration at the surface of alluvial basins.