Scaling factors for 1-D ground response amplification in a soft soil basin

Abstract

Basin presence is believed to affect the ground surface response due to earthquakes, particularly in areas around the basin edge. Previous studies showed that 1-D and 2-D wave propagation analyses resulted in significant differences in amplification at the basin edge. However, the link between 1-D and 2-D responses has not been studied for engineering practices. In practical application, seismic studies were commonly performed using 1-D analysis, for example, to develop a city micro-zonation map. Based on practical considerations, it is necessary to estimate the scaling factor for the 1-D analysis by considering the basin presence, particularly for one containing soft soil. There are three stages carried out in this study. The first stage: collecting data on some basin geometries for the 2-D modeling references and then defining selected site class and input motions. The second stage: modeling 1-D and 2-D wave propagation using D-MOD and Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC), respectively. The third stage: comparing spectral acceleration resulting from the 1-D and 2-D analyses to obtain the scaling factors. This research studied and reported the relationship between PGA values varied as 0.2 g, 0.3 g, 0.4 g, and 0.5 g, basin geometry (e.g., the angle was set to 5°, 10°, 15°, 30°, and 45°, with depth and width variations of 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4, while the basin width was adjusted to 500 m, 1 km, 2 km, and 4 km), and the spectral acceleration in several observation points on the ground surface. Based on this evaluation, a series of scaling factors are proposed. These factors can be used for spectral acceleration from available hazard maps, commonly developed based on 1-D analysis. The application example of this scaling factor is presented in this study, using the Bandung Basin case.