Proposal for Ph.D. Thesis
3-D FEM SIMULATION OF EARTHQUAKE GROUND MOTION IN REALISTIC BASINS
Model Implementation and Site Effect Analysis

Hesheng Bao
Computational Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University

April 1997

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to implement a numerical method to simulate the ground motion of large basins during strong earthquakes and then to study seismic site effects in realistic sedimentary basins. In this thesis proposal, the up-to-date literature on numerical methods used to simulate seismic ground motion is reviewed. After carefully comparing the existing methods, the author has chosen the finite element method (FEM) to perform simulations in his Ph.D research. The proposed work includes three phases: (1) developing a complete three-dimensional FEM computer model; (2) simulating seismic ground motion in realistic basins; and (3) analyzing local site effects. Simulations of a hypothetic earthquake in a canonical basin, the Moon basin, and a 1994 Northridge earthquake aftershock in a real basin, the San Fernando basin, have been carried out on serial and parallel computers, and reasonable results have demonstrated the feasibility of the modeling. Further work to achieve the objectives is proposed.

Keywords. absorbing boundaries, finite element methods, local site effects, seismic source implementations, seismic wave propagation, strong ground motion.

• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Introduction
• Literature Review: Numerical Methods Used to Simulate Realistic Earthquakes in Large Sedimentary Basins
  • Finite-Difference Methods
  • Boundary-Element Methods
  • Finite-Element Methods
• Proposed Work
• Summary of Completed Work
  • Our 3-D Finite-Element Model: Theoretical and Numerical Aspects
  • The Simulations and Analysis of the Moon Basin
  • Simulation and Analysis of a 1994 Northridge Earthquake Aftershock in San Fernando Basin
• Future Work
  • Implement Extended Earthquake Source Model in FEM
  • Introduce More Efficient Absorbing Boundary Conditions
  • Perform 3-D Simulation of Real Earthquake with Extended Earthquake Source and Analysis of Site Effects on Seismic Ground Motion
• References
• About this document ...