Effects of Soil-Structure Interaction for Structures Subjected to Earthquakes

An extended summary is presented of a state-of-the-art report on the subject matter. The report parallels one presented at the Fourth U. S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, in May 1990

Dynamics of solid-containing tanks

Making use of a relatively simple, approximate but reliable method of analysis, a study is made of the responses to horizontal base shaking of vertical, circular cylindrical tanks that are filled with a uniform viscoelastic material. The method of analysis is described, and comprehensive numerical data are presented that elucidate the underlying response mechanisms and the effects and relative importance of the various parameters involved. In addition to the characteristics of the ground motion and a dimensionless measure of the tank wall flexibility relative to the contained medium, the parameters examined include the ratio of tank-height to tank-radius and the physical properties of the contained material. Both harmonic and earthquake-induced ground motions are considered. The response quantities investigated are the dynamic wall pressures, the critical forces in the tank wall, and the forces exerted on the foundation. Part A of the report deals with rigid tanks while the effects of tank wall flexibility are examined in Part B. A brief account is also given in the latter part of the interrelationship of the critical responses of solid-containing tanks and those induced in tanks storing a liquid of the same mass density

Dynamic response of flexible retaining walls

Making use of an extension of a recently proposed, relatively simple, approximate method of analysis, a critical evaluation is made of the response to horizontal ground shaking of flexible walls retaining a uniform, linear, viscoelastic stratum of constant thickness and semiinfinite extent in the horizontal direction. Both cantilever and top-supported walls are examined. Following a detailed description of the method and of its rate of convergence, comprehensive numerical solutions are presented that elucidate the action of the system and the effects of the various parameters involved. The parameters varied include the flexibility of the wall, the condition of top support, and the characteristics of the ground motion. The effects of both harmonic base motions and an actual earthquake record are examined. Special attention is paid to the effects of long-period, effectively static excitations. A maximum dynamic response is then expressed as the product of the corresponding static response and an appropriate amplification or deamplification factor. The response quantities examined include the displacements of the wall relative to the moving base, the dynamic wall pressures, and the total wall force, base shear and base moment

Influence of Higher Modes on Strength and Ductility Demands of Soil-Structure Systems

Due to the inherent complexity, the common approach in analysing nonlinear response of structures with soil-structure interaction (SSI) in current seismic provisions is based on equivalent SDOF systems (E-SDOF). This paper aims to study the influence of higher modes on the seismic response of SSI systems by performing intensive parametric analyses on more than 6400 linear and non-linear MDOF and E-SDOF systems subjected to 21 earthquake records. An established soil-shallow foundation-structure model with equivalent linear soil behaviour and nonlinear superstructure has been utilized using the concept of cone models. The lateral strength and ductility demands of MDOF soil-structure systems with different number of stories, structure-to-soil stiffness ratio, aspect ratio and level of inelasticity are compared to those of ESDOF systems. The results indicate that using the common E-SDOF soil-structure systems for estimating the strength and ductility demands of medium and slender MDOF structures can lead to very un-conservative results when SSI effect is significant. This implies the significance of higher mode effects for soil-structure systems in comparison with fixed-based structures, which is more pronounced for the cases of elastic and low level of inelasticity

Comparative Assessment of Soil-Structure Interaction Regulations of ASCE 7-16 and ASCE 7-10

This paper evaluates the consequences of practicing soil structure interaction (SSI) regulations of ASCE 7-16 on seismic performance of building structures. The motivation for this research stems from the significant changes in the new SSI provisions of ASCE 7-16 compared to the previous 2010 edition. Generally, ASCE 7 considers SSI as a beneficial effect, and allows designer to reduce the design base shear. However, literature shows that this idea cannot properly capture the SSI effects on nonlinear systems. ASCE 7-16 is the first edition of ASCE 7 that considers the SSI effect on yielding systems. This study investigates the consequences of practicing the new provisions on a wide range of buildings with different dynamic characteristics on different soil types. Ductility demand of the structure forms the performance metric of this study, and the probability that practicing SSI provisions, in lieu of fixed-base provisions, increases the ductility demand of the structure is computed. The analyses are conducted within a probabilistic framework which considers the uncertainties in the ground motion and in the properties of the soil-structure system. It is concluded that, for structures with surface foundation on moderate to soft soils, SSI regulations of both ASCE 7-10 and ASCE 7-16 are fairly likely to result in a similar and larger structural responses than those obtained by practicing the fixed-base design regulations. However, for squat and ordinary stiff structures on soft soil or structures with embedded foundation on moderate to soft soils, the SSI provisions of ASCE 7-16 result in performance levels that are closer to those obtained by practicing the fixed-base regulations. Finally, for structures on very soft soils, the new SSI provisions of ASCE 7-16 are likely to rather conservative designs.Comment: ASCE Structures Congress, Fort Worth, TX, USA, April 19-21 (2018

Dimensional response analysis of bilinear systems subjected to non-pulselike earthquake ground motions

The maximum inelastic response of bilinear single-degree-of-freedom systems when subjected to ground motions without distinguishable pulses is revisited with dimensional analysis by identifying time scales and length scales in the time histories of recorded ground motions. The characteristic length scale is used to normalize the peak inelastic displacement of the bilinear system. The paper adopts the mean period of the Fourier transform of the ground motion as an appropriate time scale and examines two different length scales which result from the peak ground acceleration and the peak ground velocity. When the normalized peak inelastic displacement is presented as a function of the normalized strength and normalized yield displacement, the response becomes self similar and a clear pattern emerges. Accordingly, the paper proposes two alternative predictive master curves for the response which involve solely the strength and yield displacement of the bilinear SDOF system in association with either the peak ground acceleration or the peak ground velocity, together with the mean period of the Fourier transform of the ground motion. The regression coefficients that control the shape of the predictive master curves are based on 484 ground motions recorded at rock and stiff soil sites and are applicable to bilinear SDOF systems with post-yield stiffness ratio equal to 2% and inherent viscous damping ratio equal to 5%