Investigation of dynamic responses of three-sided underpass culvert under near-fault and far-fault ground motions considering soil-structure interaction

Three-sided underpass culverts are structural systems used to provide passing vehicle or pedestrian. It is of great importance that such infrastructure systems remain useable, especially after disasters such as earthquakes that can cause great destruction, in order to ensure that infrastructure services can be maintained continuously. In this context, the aim of this study is to investigate using finite element method (FEM) the dynamic responses of three-sided underpass culvert system under near-fault ground motions with velocity pulse and far-fault ground motions. For this aim, the modal analysis of the soil-underpass culvert interaction system has been realized using proposed soil-structure interaction (SSI) model. The frequencies of the interaction system obtained from the finite element model developed using proposed approaches have been verified comparing with the results obtained from the literature and the site periods. After showing that the modes of the interaction system can be obtained with the help of the proposed numerical model, the full transient dynamic analyses have been performed in the time history using five near-fault and far-fault records, considering four different soil systems. The comparisons shows that the variations of the soil systems and the ground motion type can significantly affect the top peak relative displacements and the dynamic stresses of the three-sided underpass culvert.