The concept of a vertical barrier embedded in soil to protect from seismic waves of the Rayleigh type is discussed. Horizontal barriers are also analyzed. The principle idea for such a barrier is to reflect and scatter energy of an oncoming wave by the barrier, thus decreasing the amplitude of surface vibrations beyond the barrier. Numerical FE simulations of a plane model are presented and discussed.

In the present work, the pair interaction of coaxial circular prismatic dislocation loops (PDLs) arbitrary placed in elastic solids with free spherical surfaces is considered. The analytical solutions for the pair interaction energies of PDLs in an elastic sphere, an elastic medium with a spherical pore and a spherical layer are given in the form of double power series and illustrated by energy maps built in the space of the normalized PDL radii and axial...