Ground-borne vibration screening in layered dry and saturated grounds using optimal inclined wave barriers

This paper aims to design optimal inclined wave barriers for screening vibrations in homogeneous and layered grounds with different groundwater table levels. The wave propagation phenomenon in the dry and saturated layered half-space is modeled using finite element numerical simulations considering elastodynamic and Biot's poroelastodynamic theories in dry and saturated layers, respectively. The inclined barriers' geometry and position are optimized using Covariance Matrix Adaption Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES), in which the finite element simulations are incorporated to find the fitness function. The studied grounds are subjected to dynamic loadings with different frequencies, and they are considered to have single or multiple layers with different groundwater levels. It is observed that the barriers perform better at larger frequencies and tend to locate close to the loading area to screen the waves actively. Also, the optimal barriers alleviate the environmental nuisance caused by the ground-borne vibrations significantly. [Display omitted] •Vibration mitigation using wave barriers at different frequencies.•Topology optimization using CMA-ES method coupled with finite element.•Biot's poroelastodynamic theory for modeling wave propagation in saturated media.•Investigating the effects of barrier geometry and inclination angle.•Effect of GWT and optimal barrier differences in dry and saturated grounds.