Analytical Study of Underground Explosion-Induced Ground Motion

A theoretical approach is presented to study the ground motion induced by an underground tunnel explosion. The ground motion is caused by two coupled stress waves, i.e., the reflected body wave and the secondary surface wave or Raleigh wave. Based on the principle of conservation of momentum at the wavefronts, the reflected body waves along the ground surface are derived. The interaction of the body wavefront and the ground surface induces the secondary surface wave which transfers outwards on the ground. The particle velocity and particle acceleration on the ground surface are subsequently derived. The analytical results are compared with results from numerical simulations and empirical formulae with different material damping ratios. The effects of the loading density and the material damping on the ground motion are investigated. Finally, the limitations of the proposed theoretical approach for ground motion prediction are discussed.