Frequency dispersion characteristics of phase velocities in surface wave for rotational components of seismic motion

When rotational components of ground motion produced by seismic surface waves are computed, the phase velocities must always be dealt with in earthquake engineering. In this paper, appropriate methods are presented to obtain the calculation formulas for the phase velocities of surface waves by applying the theory of elastic wave propagation. Frequency dispersion characteristics of phase velocities are discussed. The rocking component around a horizontal axis and the torsional component around a vertical axis, which are generated, respectively, by the Rayleigh and Love waves, are reasonably given. A procedure is developed to calculate the time histories of these rotational components.