Simplified subgrade model for three-dimensional soil-foundation interaction analysis

A simple mechanical model is presented for the three-dimensional dynamic soil-structure interaction analysis of surface foundations. The model is made of one-dimensional vertical beams with distributed mass and horizontal springs which interconnect the two adjacent beams. Its parameters are rather uniquely related with the soil properties alone and thus are minimally dependent on the loading condition and the foundation conditions like geometry, flexibility and size. Formulations are provided to determine the model parameters from the soil properties. Solving the governing equations of this model, expressions for the subgrade behavior in response to the applied load and soil-foundation interaction are developed in analytical forms for various cases. The dynamic and static response of three-dimensional surface foundations are computed by these expressions. It is verified that the model is well capable of reproducing the three-dimensional soil-structure interaction behavior.     

Simple formulations of ground impedance functions for rigid surface foundations

A differential equation is formulated for the dynamic response of ground medium by using a simplified ground model. Applying Galerkin's procedure for weighted residual, this equation leads to a governing equation only at the ground surface. The equation indicates that the ground surface behavior can be computed even further by a simplified model. By solving the governing equation for the boundary conditions along the surface, expressions in simple closed forms are developed for the dynamic response analysis of a massless rigid foundation that rests on the ground surface. Despite their significant simplicity, the developed expressions compute the values very close to those computed by far more complex rigorous solutions. They are found to be capable of capturing the important characteristics of the dynamic ground behavior well.     

Complex-parameter kelvin model for elastic foundations

A new rigorous approach in modelling mechanical behaviour is developed. The dynamic response of a rigid disc resting on an elastic half-space is approximated by a macroscopic force-displacement relationship, where not only the coefficients but also the order of time derivatives are complex valued. It is shown that comlex-parameter constitutive models are not simply an elegant alternative in modelling mechanical behaviour, but are the outcome of rigorous non-linear regression analysis on complex-valued functions, like the dynamic stiffness of dissipative systems. Complex-parameter constitutive models are very attractive since a minimum number of parameters is required to obtain a satisfactory fit of the ‘exact’ response. A two-parameter generalized Kelvin model reproduces closely the ‘exact’ dynamic stiffness of the disc for all three vertical, horizontal and rocking modes studied herein. Frequency- and time-domain algorithms to solve complex-order differential equations are developed, validated and used to calculate the foundation–response under earthquake excitation. It is the excellent agreement of results and the economy in number of parameters that make complex-parameter models so attractive in constitutive modelling.     

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.     

Out-of-plane (SH) soil-structure interaction: a shear wall with rigid and flexible ring foundation

Soil-structure interaction (SSI) of a building and shear wall above a foundation in an elastic half-space has long been an important research subject for earthquake engineers and strong-motion seismologists. Numerous papers have been published since the early 1970s; however, very few of these papers have analytic closed-form solutions available. The soil-structure interaction problem is one of the most classic problems connecting the two disciplines of earthquake engineering and civil engineering. The interaction effect represents the mechanism of energy transfer and dissipation among the elements of the dynamic system, namely the soil subgrade, foundation, and superstructure. This interaction effect is important across many structure, foundation, and subgrade types but is most pronounced when a rigid superstructure is founded on a relatively soft lower foundation and subgrade. This effect may only be ignored when the subgrade is much harder than a flexible superstructure: for instance a flexible moment frame superstructure founded on a thin compacted soil layer on top of very stiff bedrock below. This paper will study the interaction effect of the subgrade and the superstructure. The analytical solution of the interaction of a shear wall, flexible-rigid foundation, and an elastic half-space is derived for incident SH waves with various angles of incidence. It found that the flexible ring (soft layer) cannot be used as an isolation mechanism to decouple a superstructure from its substructure resting on a shaking half-space.     

Torsional response of a rigid circular foundation on a saturated half-space to SH waves

An analytical approach is used to study the torsional vibrations of a rigid circular foundation resting on saturated soil to obliquely incident SH waves. Biot’s poroelastic dynamic theory is considered to characterize the saturated soil below the foundation, which is solved by Hankel transform later. In order to consider the scattering phenomena caused by the existence of the foundation, the total wave field in soil is classified into free-field, rigid-body scattering field and radiation scattering field. According to the classification of wave field and the mixed boundary-value conditions between the soil and the foundation, torsional vibrations of the foundation are formulated in two sets of dual integral equations. Then, the dual integral equations are reduced to Fredholm integral equation of the second kind to be solved. Combining with the dynamic equilibrium equations of the foundation, the expressions for the torsional vibrations of the foundation are obtained. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the influence of excitation frequency, incident angle, the torsional inertia moment of the foundation and permeability of the saturated half-space on the torsional vibrations of the foundation.     

Dynamic response of flexible rectangular foundations on an elastic half-space

An approximate method for the analysis of the dynamic interaction between a flexible rectangular foundation and the soil with consideration of the out-of-plane deformation of the foundation is presented. The procedure is based on an extension of the subdivision method developed by Wong and Luco for rigid foundations. Numerical results describing the influence of the flexibility of the foundation on the vertical and rocking impedance functions and on the contact stresses between the foundation and the soil are presented. The possibility of representing a flexible foundation by an equivalent rigid foundation having the same force-displacement relationships is also discussed. The results obtained indicate that at low frequencies, the dynamic stiffness coefficients for flexible foundations are lower than those for a rigid foundation of the same area. At higher frequencies the opposite behaviour is observed. The radiation damping coefficients for flexible foundations are significantly lower than those for a rigid foundation of the same area.     

Out-of-plane (SH) soil-structure interaction: Semi-circular rigid foundation revisited

The model studied in this paper presents an extension of previous work for a shear wall on a semi-circular rigid foundation in an isotropic homogeneous and elastic half-space. The objective is to develop a soil-structure interaction model that can later be applied to the case of a flexible foundation. As shown in the Introduction below, Luco considered the case of a rigid foundation subjected to vertical incident plane SH waves, and Trifunac extended the solution for the same rigid foundation subjected to SH waves but for arbitrary angles of the incidence. In this paper, a new approach and model are presented for the same semi-circular rigid foundation with a tapered-shape (instead of rectangular) superstructure. The analytical expression for the deformation of the semi-circular rigid foundation below this tapered shear wall with soil-structure interaction in an isotropic homogeneous and elastic half-space is thus derived. Results are then compared with those of Trifunac discussed in the section below. This problem formulation can and will later be extended in the case of a flexible foundation that is semi-circular or arbitrarily shaped.     

Simplified analysis of dynamic response of rigid foundations with arbitrary geometries

A simple, efficient numerical procedure is presented for the analysis of the steady-state dynamic response of rigid foundations of arbitrary shape on a homogeneous, isotropic elastic half-space. The contact area of the foundation and soil medium is discretized into square subregions. The influence of the rigid square subregion is approximated by that of an equivalent rigid circular base with the same contact area. This approximation is a better representation of a rigid square subregion than a uniformly stressed subregion used in earlier approaches. Simple expressions are used to determine the influence of the subregion on itself and on the rest of the subregions, without the expense of numerical integration procedures. The present method is demonstrated to converge rapidly. The accuracy of this method is examined by comparison with available published theoretical and experimental results.     

Rocking response of flexible circular foundations on layered media

The analysis of the response of a flexible circular foundation on layered media due to an arbitrarily distributed vertical loading is presented. The analysis is based on the ‘ring method’ approach, i.e. discretization of the foundation in a set of concentric rings. The arbitrarily distributed loading is expanded in the circumferential direction in a Fourier series. The influence coefficient matrix of soil for each element of the series is evaluated utilizing the stiffness matrix approach. The stiffness matrix of the foundation is obtained from the finite difference energy method approach. Numerical examples illustrate the influence of several soil-foundation parameters on the rocking response of a foundation. Results are presented in terms of displacement and soil reaction distributions and impedance functions point to significantly different responses of flexible and rigid foundations.     

Discrete model for dynamic through-the-soil coupling of 3-D foundations and structures

An efficient discrete model for predicting the dynamic through-the-soil interaction between adjacent rigid, surface foundations supported by a homogeneous, isotropic and linear elastic half-space is presented. The model utilizes frequency-independent springs and dashpots, and the foundation mass, for the consideration of soil–foundation interaction. The through-the-soil coupling of the foundations is attained by frequency-independent stiffness and damping functions, developed in this work, that interconnect the degrees of freedom of the entire system of foundations. The dynamic analysis of the resulting coupled system is performed in the time domain and includes the time lagging effects of coupled dynamic input due to wave propagation using an appropriate modification of the Wilson-θ method. The basic foundation interaction model is also extended to the evaluation of coupled building-foundation systems. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基础柔性对土-结构相互作用系统响应影响的一个解析解

采用波函数展开法,通过SH波入射均匀半空间中二维埋置半圆形刚柔复合基础-单质点模型,推导土-刚柔复合基础-上部结构动力相互作用的解析解,并验证解的正确性。研究表明:基础柔性对于系统响应峰值与系统频率有较大影响。考虑基础柔性后,上部结构相对响应峰值相比全刚性基础结果均有一定减小,且系统频率也会产生向低频偏移的现象。     

Modal analysis of circular flexible foundations under vertical vibration

A methodology using modal analysis is presented to evaluate dynamic displacements of a circular flexible foundation on soil media subjected to vertical vibration. The interaction effects between the foundation and the underlying soil are represented using modal soil impedance functions determined by an efficient procedure developed. The displacements of the foundation can then be easily solved by modal superposition. Comparing with existing solutions, the presented method is found to provide accurate results with less computational effort using only a few vibration modes. In addition, parametric studies for modal responses of the flexible foundation indicate that the response of the foundation are significantly influenced by relative stiffness between the foundation and the soil medium, load distributions, vibration frequency range, and the foundation mass. Besides, justification for flexible foundations to be considered as rigid are investigated.     

Rocking vibrations of a rigid embedded foundation in a poroelastic soil layer

An approximate analytical method is presented for the dynamic response of a rigid cylindrical foundation embedded in a poroelastic soil layer under the excitation of a time-harmonic rocking moment. The soil underlying the foundation base is represented by a single-layered poroelastic soil based on rigid bedrock while the soil along the side of the foundation is modeled as an independent poroelastic stratum composed of a series of infinitesimally thin layers. The accuracy of the present solution is verified by comparisons with existing solutions obtained from other researchers. Numerical results for the rocking dynamic impedance and dynamic response factor are presented to demonstrate the influence of nondimensional frequency of excitation, poroelastic soil layer thickness, depth ratio of the foundation and internal friction of the poroelastic soil.     

Earthquake response analysis of multistorey buildings including foundation interaction

An efficient method, based on the Ritz concept, for dynamic analysis of response of multistorey buildings including foundation interaction to earthquake ground motion is presented. The system considered is a shear building on a rigid circular disc footing attached to the surface of a linearly elastic halfspace. In this method, the structural displacements are transformed to normal modes of vibration of the building on a rigid foundation. The analysis procedure is developed and numerical results are presented to demonstrate that excellent results can be obtained by considering only the first few modes of vibration. As the number of unknowns are reduced by transforming to generalized co-ordinates, the method presented is much more efficient than direct methods.     

Dynamic response of rigid foundations of arbitrary shape

An approximate numerical procedure for calculation of the harmonic force-displacement relationships for a rigid foundation of arbitrary shape placed on an elastic half-space is presented. This procedure is used to evaluate the vertical, rocking and horizontal compliance functions for rigid rectangular foundations and the vertical compliance for a rigid square foundation with an internal hole. Several comparisons between the results obtained by the proposed approach and other methods are also presented.     

Displacement solutions for dynamic loads in transversely-isotropic stratified media

Solutions for the displacements caused by dynamic loads in a viscoelastic transversely-isotropic medium are derived. The medium extends horizontally to infinity, but is bounded below by a rigid base. Stratification of the medium presents no difficulties. The medium is discretized in the vertical direction only; discretization in the horizontal direction is obviated by use of analytical solutions to the equations of motion. Application of the displacement solutions to soil-structure interaction is illustrated. A soil flexibility matrix (and hence, a stiffness matrix) for a surface foundation follows directly from the displacement solutions. A simple modification to obtain the soil stiffness for an embedded foundation of arbitrary geometry is described. Stiffnesses of rigid surface and embedded foundations are computed and compared with previously published results. In addition, the dynamic stiffness of a rigid surface foundation on a soil layer with linearly increasing shear modulus is compared to that for a homogeneous soil layer. A reduction in radiation damping is found to result from the inhomogeneity.     

Vertical vibration of an embedded rigid foundation in a poroelastic soil

This paper considers time-harmonic vertical vibration of an axisymmetric rigid foundation embedded in a homogeneous poroelastic soil. The soil domain is represented by a homogeneous poroelastic half space that is governed by Biot's theory of poroelastodynamics. The foundation is subjected to a time-harmonic vertical load and is perfectly bonded to the surrounding half space. The contact surface can be either fully permeable or impermeable. The dynamic interaction problem is solved by employing an indirect boundary integral equation method. The kernel functions of the integral equation are the influence functions corresponding to vertical and radial ring loads, and a ring fluid source applied in the interior of a homogeneous poroelastic half space. Analytical techniques are used to derive the solution for influence functions. The indirect boundary integral equation is solved by using numerical quadrature. Selected numerical results for vertical impedance of rigid foundations are presented to demonstrate the influence of poroelastic effect, foundation geometry, hydraulic boundary condition along the contact surface and frequency of excitation.     

A response-based simplified model for vertical vibrations of embedded foundations

A simplified damped oscillator model is proposed to simulate unbounded soil for the vertical vibration analysis of rigid embedded foundations. Based on the dynamic responses of a foundation–soil system, an optimal equivalent model is determined as the best simplified model. Magnification responses of a foundation–soil system simulated by the optimal equivalent model are well consistent with those obtained by the half-space theory and by a widely used computer program even as embedment depth or vibrating mass increases. The optimal equivalent model utilizing only three parameters can result in responses as accurate as the existing models, which use more parameters. This proposed method uses much simpler procedure than optimization techniques used by most existing discrete models. This proposed method may also be easily and accurately applied to practical soil–structure interaction analysis.     

Dynamic soil pressures on rigid vertical walls

A critical evaluation is made of dynamic pressures and the associated forces induced by ground shaking on a rigid, straight, vertical wall retaining a semi-infinite, uniform viscoelastic layer of constant thickness. The effects of both harmonic and earthquake-induced excitations are examined. Simple approximate expressions for the responses of the system are developed, and comprehensive numerical data are presented which elucidate the effects and relative importance of the various parameters involved. These solutions are then compared with those obtained by the use of a simple model previously proposed by Scott, and the accuracy of this model is assessed. Finally, two versions of an alternative model are proposed which approximate better the action of the system. In the first, the properties of the model are defined by frequency-dependent parameters, whereas in the second, which is particularly helpful in analyses of transient response, they are represented by frequency-independent, constant parameters.