Soft Barriers for the Mitigation of Seismic Risk

This paper gives an insight on the static and dynamic performance of soft buried barriers made of a mixture of soil and a Super Absorbing Polymer (SAP) to be used for the mitigation of seismic risk. Laboratory tests were carried out on sand-SAP mixtures at different relative percentages. The results have been interpreted with reference to the peculiar properties of the two materials (sand and SAP) at the grain scale. The results of the numerical analyses indicate that the higher the SAP content, the higher the isolating effectiveness of the barrier but the worse the overall static behaviour. A balance between the two opposite needs must be found for the most effective design.