Analysis of effects of active sources on observed phase velocity based on the thin layer method

In the wave field induced by active sources, the observed phase velocity of surface waves is influenced by both mode incompatibility (i.e. non-planar spread of surface waves is idealized as plane waves) and body waves. Effects of sources are usually investigated based on numerical simulations and physical models. Several methods have been proposed to mitigate the effects. In application, however, these methods may also have difficulties since the energy of the body waves depends on soil stratification and parameters. There are multiple modes of surface waves in layered media, among which the higher modes dominate the wave field for soils with the irregular shear velocity profiles. Considering the mode incompatibility and the higher modes, we derive analytical expressions for the effective phase velocity of the surface waves based on the thin layer stiffness method, and investigate the effects of the body waves on the observed phase velocity through the phase analysis of the vibrations of both the surface waves and the body waves. The results indicate that the effective phase velocity of the surface waves in layered media varies with the frequency and the spread distance, and is underestimated compared to that of the plane surface waves in the spread range less than about one wavelength. The oscillations that appeared in the observed phase velocity are due to the involvement of the body waves. The mode incompatibility can be ignored in the range beyond one wavelength, while the influence range of the body waves is far beyond one wavelength. The body waves have a significant influence on the observed phase velocity of the surface waves in soils with a soft layer trapped between the first and the second layers because of strong reflections. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.