Thispaperpresentsastep-by-stepprocedureusingthethree-dimensionalboundaryelementapproachtostudythebehaviorofsemi-circularcanyonsunderseismicshearwaves.TheboundaryelementcodeTDASCallowsutilizationforvariouscanyongeometries,evaluationofconcurrentseismicwavesandcalculationofthegroundmotionsoncanyonsduetoanexcitationatanyarbitrarypointoftheincidentfield.Consideringthewideningratioofthecanyon(includingprismatic,semi-prismaticandnon-prismaticcanyons),wavecharacteristics(wavelength,dimensionlessperiod,direction)andmaximumamplificationpattern,thesolutionwasappliedtocarryoutaseriesofparametricstudies.Itwasshownthatcanyonformcansignificantlyaffectthedisplacementamplification,especiallyatthepointslocatedonitsedges.Byincreasingthewavedimensionlessfrequency(η>1),theamplificationpatternbecomesmorecomplex.Onthebasisoftheresultsfromavarietyofconsideredcases,anewexpressionhasbeenpresentedforthelimitingwavelengthbeyondwhichthewideningofthecanyonwillnothaveamajoreffectonthedisplacementamplification.Toverifythereliabilityoftheproposedapproach,theobtainedresults,expressedintermsofdisplacementamplitude,werecomparedwiththosefromtheavailablepublishedliteratureandareasonablygoodagreementwasobserved.
