Seismic Linear Finite Element Analysis of Quay walls under Horizontal Earthquake Motions by Considering Water-Structure Interaction

Earthquake waves, acting on the foundation of a gravity quay wall, cause an oscillatory motion of the wall body. The earthquake disasters in Los Angeles, USA, in 1994; Kobe, Japan, in 1995; Kocaeli, Turkey, in 1999 are recent examples; over 250 caisson type quay walls were damaged in Kobe Port during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu Earthquake. In this study, the effects of the horizontal seismic ground excitations of six different ground motions on the performance of the quay walls are investigated. Present study considers vibration modes and failure criteria of a concrete quay wall during different horizontal earthquake excitations by considering water-structure interaction and using a finite element method (FEM). According to different amounts of slenderness of the quay walls and linear behavior of the soil, the failure criteria of the quay walls under horizontal motions of the mentioned earthquakes through linear transient FEM is investigated and the effect of slenderness on the seismic displacement of the quay wall is characterized through FEM and empirical equations. This study suggests that applying horizontal motions of the mentioned earthquakes through linear transient finite element analysis by considering water-structure interaction, has more catastrophic effect on the quay walls in comparison to the results of the empirical equations.

کلیدواژه ها:

Gravity quay wall ، Earthquake excitations ، Water-structure interaction ، Linear transient FEM