Rigid and flexible slope under near-fault pulse ground motions: acceleration records versus synthetic wavelets

Abstract

A post investigation of landslides induced by strong earthquake events in recent years shows that near-fault pulse-like ground motions have a considerable impact on slopes. Accurate evaluation of the stability of slopes under near-fault earthquakes has become a crucial issue in seismic-prone areas. Permanent displacement is widely recognized as an effective index for evaluating the stability of slopes. In order to explore what extent the pulse component of pulse ground motion plays a role in slope instability, three synthetic wavelets proposed by Baker, Chang and Zhang were used to obtain the pulse-like components of ground motions and residual ground motions. A statistical distribution comparison between the displacement of the original ground motion record, the synthetic wavelet, and the residual ground motion records-induced can help determine whether the most damaging parts of the record are the pulse-like components and whether the synthetic wavelet accurately captures this damaging behavior. Specifically, for both rigid and flexible slopes, this comparison provides insight into the relationship between the pulses contained in the ground motion and the size of permanent displacement. The results reveal that, in some cases, the permanent displacement of the slope under pulse-like ground motion is similar to that of the original ground motion. This suggests that the pulse component in near-fault pulse-like ground motion is a significant factor in causing slope instability.