Numerical Analysis of the Effect of a Wall barrier with Eco-line Spheres on Diverting the Faulting Path of a 45-Degree Reverse dip-slip Fault

Passing through the different soil layers, earthquake-induced faulting can reach the ground surface and cause serious damage to infrastructure, especially bridge structures. Therefore, it is necessary to divert the rupture path from the vicinity of the structure using modern techniques. Embedding a barrier wall on the path of rupture propagation and in the vicinity of the structure is an efficient solution to mitigate the secondary effects of this phenomenon (such as displacement of the earth's surface, and rotation of the structure’s foundation). In this paper, a numerical study is carried out on a barrier wall filled with eco-line spheres near a concrete bridge foundation as a novel faulting path diversion technique. Moreover, the effects of different parameters including changes in width, depth, and barrier wall’s distance from bridge foundation on rupture path of the 45-degree reverse dip-slip fault, and changes in the vertical displacement and the rotation of the foundation have been studied. The results indicated that when the barrier wall is placed on the rupture path, it can effectively divert the waves and reduce plastic strains, soil strain energy, and ground surface deflections by up to 100 percent and mitigate structural response by up to 50 percent, hence effectively preventing damage to both the ground surface and the structure.