3D numerical modeling of multi-channel analysis of surface wave in homogeneous and layered concrete slabs

The surface wave method has recently gained popularity in engineering issues for determining homogeneity in depth profiles of media consisting of huge concrete structures. This paper extends a 3D numerical modeling of an experimental seismic surface wave study on the investigation of concrete layering properties. Furthermore, the homogeneity, quality and layering of two large concrete slabs which were experimentally examined by some non-destructive seismic tests are conducted using the ABAQUS/Explicit finite element software, which is efficient for this purpose. To simulate an infinite media, special elements are used in the boundary named absorbing layer using increasing damping to eliminate sufficient reflections from the fictatus boundary. Rayleigh waves were identified using Lamb wave fundamental-modes; then, dispersion curves were numerically studied for the sake of comparison with the experimental results. Consequently, to see the agreement of finite element simulations with experiments, from the gathered records at the free surface of the layered slab, the comparison between the estimated and the average measured Young’s moduli of all concrete slab layers according to their thicknesses is conducted in the simulation and a reliable estimation with an error less than 3% is observed.