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Evaluating the Seismic Response of Deep Sandy Soil Deposits

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-4015
bluke{at}ce.unlv.edu
(B.A.L.)

GeoSyntec Consultants
2100 Main Street, Suite 150
Huntington Beach, California 92648
(N.M.)

Western Technologies, Inc.
3737 East Broadway Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85040
(M.K.)

We investigated the influence of depth to the half-space on evaluations of seismic response of a dry sandy soil deposit with thickness exceeding 100 m. Our investigation is based on the premise that the best estimate of surface response of such deposits is obtained using a statistically derived attenuation relationship, and the best estimate of other parameters required for geotechnical earthquake-engineering evaluations is obtained by calibrating the evaluated spectral characteristics of the site response using the best-estimate surface response. Results of our site-specific evaluations indicate that the preferred depth to the half-space does not coincide with the depth to bedrock, nor is the preferred depth uniquely defined in the seismic site-response analysis. We find that for a given accelerogram, the preferred depth to the half-space corresponds closely to the depth for which the peak horizontal ground acceleration (PHGA) predicted in the site-response analysis matches the median PHGA developed from the appropriate statistical attenuation relationship. Our results further indicate that the effect of the magnitude of the shear-wave velocity assigned to the half-space is minor in comparison with depth to the half-space.

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