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Bento: Benchmark for Assessing Topographic Site Effects Through 3D Numerical Simulations

Description: 

Understanding the impact of topographic site effects on seismic ground motion is a crucial topic in earthquake engineering and seismic hazard assessment. Numerous studies rely on numerical simulations to explore these effects. However, a key concern is whether numerical simulation methods provide consistent predictions of topographic amplification and de-amplification of ground motion in both homogeneous and heterogeneous media. To address this, the international Benchmark of 3D Numerical simulations on TOpographic sites (BENTO) was launched in September 2024, with a total of 20 teams participating from France, Italy, Japan, China, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, and the U.S. The benchmark, which is part of the ESG7 conference scheduled to take place in Grenoble, France, in the fall of 2026, will extend over the entire period leading up to the conference and will mainly consist of three phases: (1) a verification phase focused on very high-frequency 3D simulations of simple topographic shapes; (2) an initial validation phase involving more complex 3D simulations on real topographic terrain with existing earthquake recordings; and (3) a second validation phase involving 3D simulations on additional topographic sites identified during the benchmark, where seismic measurements will be collected based on conclusions drawn from the simulations. The goal of these three phases is to perform a cross-comparison of results from different numerical simulation codes, as well as to compare simulation results with real-world measurement data, available analytical solutions, and simpler proxies. This will help evaluate their alignment in assessing topographic site effects, provide insights into the meshing precision needed to capture small topographic features at high frequencies, define reference rock sites on topographic reliefs, explore the relative influence of topographic parameters on amplification patterns, and address other important aspects of the effect of topography on ground motion. This work is partially supported by the Cashima-3 and Sigma-3 research programs.

Session: Numerical Modeling in Seismology: Theory, Algorithms and Applications - I

Type: Oral

Date: 4/17/2025

Presentation Time: 08:45 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Elias

Student Presenter: No

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