Soil Natural Frequency Assessment for Planned Grade-Separated Junctions and Under-Development Areas in the City of Kerman

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Graduated MSc. of Geophysics, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, I. R. Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of Geophysics, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, I. R. Iran.

Abstract

One of the important issues in infrastructures' destruction by earthquake is the impact of soil on the bedrock, which is known as “site effect”. Considering the fact that city of Kerman is located in the tectonic seismic state of eastern Iran and is situated near the Golbaf, Koohbanan, Sirch and Nayband faults, it is essential to reduce the dangers of the earthquake. Moreover, one of the most important structures which will be damaged during an earthquake is urban bridges. Thus, in designing the bridges, the impact of earthquake and vulnerability of bridges in places in which earthquake is likely to occur must be taken into consideration. In this study, recorded microtremor data in 52 three-component seismometric stations have been used. To have data with minimum environmental noise, all the measurements were performed in time period of midnight to 5 am in the morning. In this paper, the microtremor data related to the developing areas in Kerman and the erection site of four important bridges which are under construction has been investigated. Considering the objective of the study, which is estimation of the natural frequency and the earth vulnerability index, the recorded microtremors in the seismometric stations were processed using spectral ratio of H/V horizontal to vertical components. Results showed that frequency values vary from 0.3 to 1.2 Hz. Based on the achieved frequencies and comparison to the standard tables, it has been concluded that all the stations are of the soft-soil type in site class I. Finally, the frequency zoning map and vulnerability indices were drawn. Results showed that vulnerability index is high in the developing areas of the city of Kerman

Keywords


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