Seismic protection of civil engineering constructions with a side barrier for Rayleigh waves: Application to underground structures.

• A new seismic barrier for underground structures is proposed to control the Rayleigh waves. • The soil acceleration response is reduced within the frequency range of 0.5–5 Hz. • The maximum layer drift of the subway station is reduced by over 40 %. • The internal forces of structural components are reduced by 70 % on average. • A novel index is proposed to evaluate the performance of seismic barriers. This research introduces a novel seismic mitigation approach for civil engineering constructions, utilizing seismic metamaterials, and particularly studies its application to underground structures. This approach involves the implementation of a regional seismic barrier, designed in the form of piles periodically clamped to a concrete foundation. The efficacy of this seismic barrier is explored through comprehensive numerical simulations. A wave propagation study is conducted to investigate the attenuation efficiency for Rayleigh waves in the frequency domain. Besides, dynamic analysis is performed on a two-layer and three-span subway station subjected to actual seismic recordings. The results from the wave propagation study reveal a notable reduction in acceleration response within the frequency range of 0.5 Hz–5 Hz when employing the seismic barrier, in contrast to the free-field scenario. Dynamic analysis demonstrates that the implementation of the proposed seismic barrier leads to a significant decrease in both the maximum layer drift and the structural internal forces of the subway station. Moreover, the relative displacement of soil proves to be a pertinent metric for evaluating the seismic control efficacy of the proposed barrier for underground structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]