Abstract: In order to improve the safety of shallow buried rectangular tunnels with weak surrounding rocks when subjected to strong earthquakes,a comparative analysis of the seismic damping effect of rectangular tunnels with different damping layer arrangements is carried out using the finite element software ABAQUS.The results show that compared with the condition without damping layer (condition 1),after adding the segmental structure,the damping effects of condition 2 (cushion damping layer),condition 3 (semi-covered damping layer),and condition 4 (full-covered damping layer) were significantly improved,and condition 3 had the best damping effect.Compared with condition 1,the maximum principal stress peak,minimum principal stress peak,maximum shear stress,maximum lateral displacement,maximum vertical displacement,and minimum safety factor of  the damping effect in condition 3 increased by 8.893%,13.433%,5.698%,15.190%,41.860%,and 27.590% respectively.In seismic design,a semi-covered seismic damping layer construction scheme is recommended.

Key words: rectangular tunnels, strong seismic areas, weak surrounding rock, damping layer, damping effect