Seismic response analysis of site soil in an immersed tunnel by multi-mass-spring model

The methodology for calculating the seismic response of immersed tunnel was proposed in this paper by finite element method and the multi-mass-spring model.The Guangzhou Zhoutouzui immersed tunnel is considered to illustrate the determination of the seismic response of the ground surface in the immersed tunnel by the dynamic time history analysis method,where the inputs are the synthetic seismic acceleration time histories at bed rock.The seismic responses obtained from the proposed method are compared with those obtained from the shear wave theory.The results show that the maximum displacement of the ground surface calculated by the multi-mass-spring model is larger than those obtained from the shear wave theory,which may be caused by using the smaller damping ratios in the multi-mass-spring model.Therefore,it is suggested that the results obtained from the multi-mass-spring model can be applicable to engineering practice,and the results obtained form the shear wave theory can be referenced.