Seismic barriers filled with solid elastic and granular materials: Comparative analysis

A comparative study of the vertical seismic barriers intended for protecting from Rayleigh seismic waves and filled with (1) homogeneous linearly elastic materials and (2) granular metamaterials, is done by the finite-element (FE) modeling. The granular metamaterial obeys the Mohr–Coulomb plasticity model with the associated flow rule, low cohesion value, and small internal friction and dilation angles. The performed numerical analysis reveals a principal ability achieving much higher reduction ratios for magnitudes of accelerations along with much longer shadow zones behind the barrier for barriers filled with metamaterials in comparison with the purely elastic homogeneous barriers.