Assessment of topographic amplification factor for slopes by centrifuge tests
Assessment of topographic amplification factor for slopes by centrifuge tests
Topographic irregularities such as slopes and ridges significantly influence seismic ground motions by altering their amplitude and frequency characteristics. However, the conventional approach of defining a single-valued topographic amplification factor often fails to capture the period-dependent nature of these effects. In this study, a series of dynamic centrifuge tests were conducted to investigate the variation of seismic amplification on slopes with different inclinations. Two single-sided slope models with varying slope angles were prepared using dry silica sand, and both sine-sweep and spectrally matched earthquake motion were applied at 60 g centrifugal acceleration. Accelerations were measured at the slope crest and the adjacent free field to evaluate topographic effects on seismic response. The results revealed that amplification at the slope crest was strongly period-dependent, with distinct peaks associated with slope geometry, while the effect of slope inclination was relatively minor. These findings highlight the limitations of simplified amplification assumptions and emphasize the importance of considering period-dependent behavior in seismic design for topographically complex regions.
Moon Gyo Lee; Chang-Guk Sun
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Session 3: Resilient geotechnical infrastructure
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-229