Seismic Response of Slab Culvert in Loess Region

Buried culverts are usually considered to be earthquake-resistant underground structures. Therefore, few studies have been conducted to investigate the seismic response of slab culverts under high fill embankment which are usually subjected to extreme dynamic loads. This paper presents a numerical analysis of the seismic response of slab culvert under high fill embankment in a loess region which is also a seismically active area in China. The influence of important factors such as fill height, incident angle of seismic wave and magnitude of earthquake on the response of culvert is carefully examined. And possible failures of culverts are also analyzed according to the numerical results.