Dynamic interaction between flexible strip foundations

This paper is concerned with the dynamic response of a system of flexible strip foundations resting in smooth contact with a homogeneous isotropic viscoelastic half space. An arbitrary number of foundations with different flexibilities and geometries subjected to time-harmonic distributed loadings are considered in the formulation. The response of each strip foundation is governed by the classical plate theory and its transverse deflection is represented by an admissible function containing a set of generalized co-ordinates. A coupled variational-Green's function scheme is employed to establish the equations of motion of the strip foundation system. The numerical stability and convergence of the solution scheme are established. The influence of the foundation flexibility, distance between adjacent foundations and frequency of motion on the response of the foundation system is investigated in the numerical study.     

Harmonic wave response of two 3-D rigid surface foundations

A boundary element methodology is developed for studying the response of a system of two rigid, massless or massive, surface foundations of arbitrary plan-forms to various harmonic waves under three-dimensional conditions. The method employs the frequency domain Green's function for the surface of the elastic half-space, thereby restricting the discretization only to the soil-foundation interfaces, and isoparametric quadratic quadrilateral boundary elements for increased accuracy. Extensive comparison studies with other known numerical solutions confirm the high accuracy of the proposed method. Detailed parametric studies are conducted in order to study the harmonic wave response of two square foundations as a function of the kind of incident wave, the angles of wave incidence, the wave frequency, the separation distance between the foundations and the amount of mass in each foundation and compare it against that of a single foundation for assessing the through the soil coupling effect.     

TRANSFER FUNCTIONS FOR RIGID RECTANGULAR FOUNDATIONS

Closed-form expressions and comprehensive numerical solutions are presented for the transfer functions of surface-supported, rigid, rectangular foundations excited by horizontally polarized, incoherent shear waves for which the motions are parallel to one of the foundation sides. The free-field ground motion is specified stochastically in terms of a local power spectral density function and an orthotropic incoherence function which decays exponentially with the square of the excitation frequency and the separation distance. The response quantities examined include the lateral and torsional components of the foundation motion. Displayed graphically, the results elucidate the effects and relative importance of the numerous parameters involved. For vertically incident incoherent wave fields, the lateral transfer function of a rectangular foundation is related to that of a judiciously selected square foundation, and the interrelationship of the results is examined. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic response of a group of flexible foundations to incident seismic waves

The dynamic response of a finite number of flexible surface foundations subjected to harmonic incident Rayleigh or SH waves is presented. The foundations are assumed to be resting on an elastic half-space. The results show that the foundation stiffness has a marked effect on the vertical response, while there is only a minor effect on the horizontal displacements. In general, the dynamic response decreases with increasing foundation stiffness. In cases of Rayleigh wave incidence, the existence of an adjacent foundation generates a certain amount of horizontal response in the direction perpendicular to the incident wave and subsequently causes the system to undergo a torsional motion; while in cases of horizontally incident SH waves, a vertical response has been observed and its magnitude is comparable to the response in the direction of the incident wave.     

Impedances of embedded rigid strip foundations

This paper is concerned with the dynamic response of rigid strip foundations of arbitrary geometry embedded in a homogeneous elastic half-space. The embedded rigid foundation is modelled by an equivalent domain in a uniform half-space which is subjected to an appropriate body force field. The components of the impedance matrix are determined through the solution of a linear simultaneous equation system which is established by invoking rigid body displacements of discrete locations within the equivalent domain and appropriate equilibrium consideration. It is found that high numerical efficiency and flexibility can be achieved using the body force model when compared to boundary integral formulations through the selection of appropriate displacement influence functions and a ‘parent domain’ in the analysis. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the influence of the embedment ratio, frequency of excitation, foundation geometry and Poisson's ratio on the vertical, horizontal, rocking and coupled impedances of a single embedded foundation. The effect on the impedance due to the presence of an adjacent embedment is investigated for various distances between foundations and embedment ratios.     

不规则场地上基础的动阻抗及其在入射波作用下的输入运动

本文根据边界元方法建立了位不规则场上刚体的动阻抗和在入射平面波作用下的有效输入运动的分析模型，分析模型考虑了不规则场地和基础对入射波的散射作用以及土与基础的相互作用，通过验证确认了本方法的正确性，文中计算了凹陷，高地和盆地三种不规则场地土不同条件基础的动阻和有效输入的运动，并与半空间地基上相应基础的情况作了对比，计算表明，当基础尺寸与不规则场地范围可比时有必要用本文模型分析不规则场地的影响和土一结     

In-plane foundation-soil interaction for embedded circular foundations

Foundation soil interaction is studied using an analytical two-dimensional model, for circular foundations embedded in a homogeneous elastic half-space and for incident plane P- and SV- and for surface Rayleigh waves. The scattered waves are expanded in complete series of cyclindrical wave functions. A detailed analysis is presented of the foundation response to unit amplitude incident waves as a function of the type of incident waves and angle of incidence, the depth of the embedment and the foundation mass per unit length.It is shown that free-field translations and point rotation approximate well the foundation input motion only for very long incident waves. For shorter incident waves, those in general overestimate the foundation input motion. Neglecting the rotation of the foundation input motion (which is usually done in practice) may eliminate a major contribution to the base excitation of buildings and may cause nonconservative estimates of the forces in these buildings. Incident waves appear as ‘longer’ to a shallow foundation than to a deeper foundation. Therefore, deeper foundations are more effective in reflecting and scattering the short incident waves.     

Dynamics of rigid strip foundations embedded in orthotropic elastic soils

This study is concerned with the dynamic response of an arbitrary shaped rigid strip foundation embedded in an orthotropic elastic soil. The foundation is subjected to time-harmonic vertical, horizontal and moment loadings. The boundary-value problem related to an embedded foundation is analysed by using the indirect boundary integral equation method. The kernel functions of the integral equations are displacement and traction Green's functions of an anisotropic elastic half plane. Exact analytical solutions are used for the Green's functions. The boundary integral equation is solved by using numerical techniques. Selected numerical results are presented for the impedances of rectangular and semi-circular rigid strip foundations embedded in four types of anisotropic soils. A discussion on the influence of soil anisotropy and frequency of excitation on the impedances is presented. The versatility of the analysis is demonstrated by considering the through soil interaction between two semi-circular strip foundations.     

Structural response for stochastic kinematic interaction

The influence of stochastic kinematic interaction (SKI) on structural response is investigated in this paper. The SKI is evaluated through a computational model based on the boundary element method (BEM) formulated in the frequency domain. The singular integrals required in the computation of BEM are evaluated in a closed form. It is assumed that the foundation input motion (FIM) is the result of the superposition of many plane, stationary, correlated stochastic SH‐, P‐ and SV‐waves travelling within a homogeneous viscoelastic soil at different angles. The results obtained indicate that the effect of SKI on the foundation response is qualitatively similar to that of wave passage. Both effects involve a reduction of translational components of the response at intermediate and high frequencies and creation of a rotational response component at intermediate frequencies, which decreases at high frequencies. While, it is found that the SKI decreases the maximum response of structures built on embedded rigid strip foundations excited by SH‐ and P‐waves, it increases the maximum response for SV‐waves, except when the natural frequency of the structure is less than 0.5 Hz and for short structures excited by shallowly incident SV‐waves. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vibrations of square and circular foundations with concentric openings on elastic half space

A study on the dynamic characteristics of rigid foundations with special geometries such as square or circular with concentric internal holes, is presented. The foundations are resting on a homogeneous, linear elastic halfspace and are subjected to external forces or seismic wave excitation. Both ‘relaxed’ and ‘non-relaxed’ boundary conditions at the interface between the foundation and the halfspace are considered, and several parametric studies are conducted to assess the influence of either type of boundary conditions upon each of the possible modes of vibration. Results for massive and massless foundations are presented in time and frequency domains for impulsive and harmonic excitations, respectively. A time domain boundary element method (BEM) developed by the authors for the solution of a class of 3-D soil-structure interaction (SSI) problems is used for all the analyses reported in this work. The accuracy and efficiency of the method and the BEM models developed in this work are assessed on the basis of comparison studies with published results.     

Response of L-shaped rigid foundations embedded in a uniform half-space to traveling seismic waves

A simplified indirect boundary element method is applied to compute the impedance functions for L-shaped rigid foundations embedded in a homogeneous viscoelastic half-space. In this method, the waves generated by the 3D vibrating foundation are constructed from radiating sources located on the actual boundary of the foundation. The impedance functions together with the free-field displacements and tractions generated along the soil–foundation interface are used to calculate the foundation input motion for incident P, S and Rayleigh waves. This is accomplished by application of Iguchi's averaging method which, in turn, is verified by comparison with results obtained rigorously using the relation between the solutions of the basic radiation (impedance functions) and scattering (input motions) problems. Numerical results are presented for both surface-supported and embedded foundations. It is shown how the seismic response of L-shaped foundations with symmetrical wings differs from that of enveloping square foundations. The effects of inclination and azimuth of the earthquake excitation are examined as well. These results should be of use in analyses of soil–structure interaction to account for the traveling wave effects usually overlooked in practice.     

EFFECT OF SLAB FLEXIBILITY ON INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO CIRCULAR FOUNDATIONS

The paper is aimed at investigating the effect of foundation rigidity on dynamic stiffness for two circular foundations on a viscoelastic medium. To generate the dynamic stiffness, a substructure technique is employed. For the substructure of a viscoelastic medium, the solution for wave motion reported in Reference 11 is used. For the substructures of two flexible foundations, classical plate theory with the inertial force neglected is employed to find the displacement fields of the foundation plates subjected to the interaction stresses. Then, the continuity condition for all the substructures is imposed implicitly by using the variational principle; then with the help of the reciprocal theorem the dynamic stiffness for the two flexible foundations can be obtained. For the numerical study, the boundary condition at the rims of both foundation plates is assumed to be a hinge connection to superstructures. Some numerical investigations are performed and the effect of foundation rigidity on dynamic stiffness is examined. Some discussions and conclusions are also made.     

A coupled fluid layer–rigid disk–poroelastic half-space vibration problem

This paper proposes a coupled fluid layer–foundation–poroelastic half-space vibration model to study how still water affects foundations operating underwater. As an example, we consider the problem of the vertical vibration of a rigid disk on a poroelastic half-space covered by a fluid layer having a finite depth. The solution of the disk vibration problem is obtained using the boundary conditions at the free surface of the fluid layer and the boundary conditions at the fluid layer–poroelastic medium interface. The solution is expressed in terms of dual integral equations that are converted into Fredholm integral equations of the second kind and solved numerically. Selected numerical results for the vertical dynamic impedance coefficient are examined based on different water depths, poroelastic materials, disk permeabilities and frequencies of excitation. Based on the numerical results, it is proposed that the hydrodynamic pressure caused by the foundation vibration is the intrinsic reason that the existence of a fluid layer has such a great effect on the dynamic characteristics of the foundation. In many cases, the hydrodynamic pressure caused by the foundation vibration cannot be ignored when designing dynamic underwater foundations. These results are helpful in understanding the dynamic response of foundations under still water without water waves, such as foundations in pools, lakes and reservoirs.     

Discrete models for vertical vibrations of surface and embedded foundations

A five-parameter discrete model that approximates the dynamic force4isplacement relationship for rigid foundations undergoing vertical vibrations on a uniform elastic half-space is presented. The model involves a combination of two springs, two viscous dampers and a mass. Values of the parameters for circular, square and rectangular foundations placed on the surface or embedded in an elastic half-space are listed. The parameters are obtained by minimizing the discrepancy between the force4isplacement relation for the model and that obtained by solution of the mixed boundary-value problem of the rigid foundation on an elastic half-space. The definition of an appropriate input motion to represent wave excitation is also discussed. The input motion to the discrete model differs from the input motion that should be used in a continuum model.     

Antiplane response of a dike with flexible soil-structure interface to incident SH waves

Studies of the effects of differential ground motions on structural response generally do not consider the effects of the soil-structure interaction. On the other end, studies of soil-structure interaction commonly assume that the foundation of the structure (surface or embedded) is rigid. The former ignore the scattering of waves from the foundation and radiation of energy from the structure back to the soil, while the latter ignore quasi-static forces in the foundations and lower part of the structure deforming due to the wave passage. This paper studies a simple model of a dike but considers both the soil-structure interaction and the flexibility of the foundation. The structure is represented by a wedge resting on a half-space and excited by incident plane SH-waves. The structural ‘foundation’ is a flexible surface that can deform during the passage of seismic waves. The wave function expansion method is used to solve for the motions in the half-pace and in the structure. The displacements and stresses in the structure are compared with those for a fixed-base model shaken by the free-field motion. The results show large displacements near the base of the structure due to the differential motion of the base caused by the wave passage.     

Impedance functions for foundations embedded in a layered medium: An integral equation approach

An integral equation technique to calculate the dynamic response of foundations embedded in a layered viscoelastic half-space when subjected to external forces and moments is presented. The technique is based on representing the radiated field as resulting from a set of sources distributed over a surface internal to the actual boundary of the foundation and by imposing the boundary conditions in an integral sense. The resulting non-singular integral equation with symmetric kernel is solved by discretization and reduction to a system of linear algebraic equations. The technique is validated by comparison with previous results for cylindrical foundations with different embedment ratios.     

Kinematic soil–structure interaction for long-span cable-supported bridges

A general procedure is presented to study the dynamic soil–structure interaction effects on the response of long-span suspension and cable-stayed bridges subjected to spatially varying ground motion at the supporting foundations. The foundation system is represented by multiple embedded cassion foundations and the frequency-dependent impedance matrix for the multiple foundations system takes into account also the cross-interaction among adjacent foundations through the soil. To illustrate the potential implementation of the analysis, a numerical example is presented in which the dynamic response of the Vincent–Thomas suspension bridge (Los Angeles, CA) subjected to the 1987 Whittier earthquake is investigated. Although both kinematic and inertial effects are included in the general procedure, only the kinematic effects of the soil–structure interaction are considered in the analysis of the test case. The results show the importance of the kinematic soil–foundation interaction on the structural response. These effects are related to the type, i.e. SH-, SV-, P- or Rayleigh waves and to the inclination of the seismic wave excitation. Moreover, rocking components of the foundation motion are emphasized by the embedment of the foundation system and greatly alter the structural response.     

Effects of the wave passage and the embedment depth for in-plane building-soil interaction

Building foundation-soil interaction is studied in the frequency domain using a two-dimensional analytical model. The building is represented by an infinitely long shear wall resting on a circular foundation, embedded into an elastic homogeneous half-space. Deep and shallow foundations are considered (with depth-to-half-width ratios of 1 and 0·5). Both the dynamic interaction and the wave passage effects are included. The excitation is a plane P- or SV-wave,or a surface Rayleigh wave. The results show that for incident waves which are long relative to the width of the foundation, the foundation driving forces are larger when the embedment is deeper. For shorter incident waves, the input base rotation is larger for shallow foundations and, therefore, the relative building response may then be larger. It is also shown that the input base rotation may contribute significantly to the building excitation and that neglecting it may cause nonconservative estimates for the forces in the building.     

Transient response of a group of rigid strip surface foundations

A numerical procedure is proposed to investigate the transient response of a group of rigid strip foundations resting on an elastic, homogeneous half-space subjected to either external forces or seismic motions. A fundamental solution is presented for uniform strip loadings with Heaviside function time-dependence applied on the half-space. In the procedure, each of the foundations is discretized into subelements. The tractions between the half-space and the subelements are assumed constant at every time step. The through-soil coupling effects between the foundations are studied numerically.     

Plain strain soil–structure interaction model for a building supported by a circular foundation embedded in a poroelastic half-space

A simple theoretical model for soil–structure interaction in water saturated poroelastic soils is presented, developed to explore if the apparent building–foundation–soil system frequency changes due to water saturation. The model consists of a shear wall supported by a rigid circular foundation embedded in a homogenous, isotropic poroelastic half-space, fully saturated by a compressible and inviscid fluid, and excited by in-plane wave motion. The motion in the soil is governed by Biot's theory of wave propagation in fluid saturated porous media. Helmholtz decomposition and wave function expansion of the two P-wave and the S-wave potentials is used to represent the motion in the soil. The boundary conditions along the contact surface between the soil and the foundation are perfect bond (i.e. welded contact) for the skeleton, and either drained or undrained hydraulic condition for the fluid (i.e. pervious or impervious foundation). For the purpose of this exploratory analysis, the zero stress condition at the free surface is relaxed in the derivation of the foundation stiffness matrix, which enables a closed form solution. The implications of this assumption are discussed, based on published comparisons for the elastic case. Also, a closed form representation is derived for the foundation driving forces for incident plane (fast) P-wave or SV wave. Numerical results and comparison with the full-scale measurements are presented in the companion paper, published in this issue.