Simplified transverse seismic analysis of buried structures

This paper presents a simplified method for the analysis of square cross-section buried structures (tunnel) subjected to seismic motion. Finite element analyses are performed to assess the fundamental modes of vibration of the soil layer with and without the tunnel. The influence of the tunnel on the modes of vibrations is taken into account by comparing the modal deformations in the free-field to those in the presence of the tunnel. From this comparison the zone of influence of the modal displacements due to the presence of the structure is determined. The resulting model is subjected to horizontal and vertical excitation of statistically independent accelerograms compatible with the response spectra of the Regulatory Guide 1.6 of the Nuclear Energy Commission. The free-field displacement is introduced at the boundaries of the zone of influence. The proposed simplified static analysis yields a state of stresses similar to that obtained from a full dynamic analysis of the complete soil–tunnel system. Several examples are solved to corroborate the validity of the method.     

Kinematic soil-structure interaction effects on maximum inelastic displacement demands of SDOF systems

This paper presents a statistical study of the kinematic soil-foundation-structure interaction effects on the maximum inelastic deformation demands of structures. Discussed here is the inelastic displacement ratio defined as the maximum inelastic displacement demands of structures subjected to foundation input motions divide by those of structures subjected to free-field ground motions. The displacement ratio is computed for a wide period range of elasto-plastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems with various levels of lateral strength ratios and with different sizes of foundations. Seventy-two earthquake ground motions recorded on firm soil with average shear wave velocities between 180 m/s and 360 m/s are adopted. The effects of period of vibration, level of lateral yielding strength and dimension of foundations are investigated. The results show that kinematic interaction will reduce the maximum inelastic displacement demands of structures, especially for systems with short periods of vibration, and the larger the foundation size the smaller the maximum inelastic displacement becomes. In addition, the inelastic displacement ratio is nearly not affected by the strength ratio of structures for systems with periods of vibration greater than about 0.3 s and with strength ratios smaller than about 3.0. Expressions obtained from nonlinear regression analyses are also proposed for estimating the effects of kinematic soil-foundation-structure interaction from the maximum deformation demand of the inelastic system subjected to free-field ground motions.     

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.     

Flexible support of a pile embedded in unsaturated soil under Rayleigh waves

Under the action of Rayleigh waves, pile head is easy to rotate with a concrete pile cap, and pure fixed-head condition is rarely achieved, which is a common phenomenon for it usually occurs on the precast piles with insufficient anchorage. In addition, the propagation characteristics of Rayleigh wave have been changed significantly due to the existence of capillary pressure and the coupling between phases in unsaturated soil, which significantly affects the pile-soil interaction. In order to study the above problems, a coupled vibration model of unsaturated soil–pile system subjected to Rayleigh waves is established on the basis that the pile cap is equivalent to a rigid mass block. Meanwhile, the soil constitution is simplified to linear-elastic and small deformations are assumed to occur during the vibration phase of soil–pile system. Then, the horizontal dynamic response of a homogeneous free-field unsaturated soil caused by propagating Rayleigh waves is obtained by using operator decomposition theory and variable separation method. The dynamic equilibrium equation of a pile is established by using the dynamic Winkler model and the Timoshenko beam theory, and the analytical solutions of the horizontal displacement, rotation angle, bending moment and shear force of pile body are derived according to the boundary conditions of flexible constraint of pile top. Based on the present solutions, the rationality of the proposed model is verified by comparing with the previous research results. Through parametric study, the influence of rotational stiffness and yield bending moment of pile top on the horizontal dynamic characteristics of Rayleigh waves induced pile is investigated in detailed. The analysis results can be utilized for the seismic design of pile foundation under Rayleigh waves.     

Response of circular flexible foundations subjected to horizontal and rocking motions

A methodology using modal analysis is developed to evaluate dynamic vertical displacements of a circular flexible foundation resting on soil media subjected to horizontal and rocking motions. The influence of the soil reaction forces on the foundation is considered by introducing modal impedance functions, which can be determined by an efficient procedure with ring elements. The displacements of the foundation can then be easily solved by modal superposition. Parametric studies for modal responses of the flexible foundation indicate that the coupled response of the foundation is significantly influenced by relative stiffness among the foundation and the soil medium, vibration frequency range, foundation mass, and boundary contact conditions. The welded boundary condition should be considered to predict the coupling response while the relaxed boundary condition may be used to predict approximately the vertical displacements. As a foundation with a relative stiffness ratio more than three, it is found that the foundation can be considered as rigid to calculate coupling displacements. For a slightly flexible foundation, considerations of three modes are sufficient enough to obtain accurate foundation responses. Moreover, at low frequencies, the coupling effect due to higher mode can be neglected.     

System identification for evaluating soil–structure interaction effects in buildings from strong motion recordings

Parametric system identification is used to evaluate seismic soil–structure interaction effects in buildings. The input–output strong motion data pairs needed for evaluations of flexible- and fixed-base fundamental mode parameters are derived. Recordings of lateral free-field, foundation, and roof motions, as well as foundation rocking, are found to be necessary for direct evaluations of modal parameters for both cases of base fixity. For the common situation of missing free-field or base rocking motions, procedures are developed for estimating the modal parameters that cannot be directly evaluated. The accuracy of these estimation procedures for fundamental mode vibration period and damping is verified for eleven sites with complete instrumentation of the structure, foundation, and free-field. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of foundation embedment during building–soil interaction

A numerical solution for evaluating the effects of foundation embedment on the effective period and damping and the response of soil–structure systems is presented. A simple system similar to that used in practice to account for inertial interaction effects is investigated, with the inclusion of kinematic interaction effects for the important special case of vertically incident shear waves. The effective period and damping are obtained by establishing an equivalence between the interacting system excited by the foundation input motion and a replacement oscillator excited by the free-field ground motion. In this way, the use of standard free-field response spectra applicable to the effective period and damping of the system is permitted. Also, an approximate solution for total soil–structure interaction is presented, which indicates that the system period is insensitive to kinematic interaction and the system damping may be expressed as that for inertial interaction but modified by a factor due to kinematic interaction. Results involving both kinematic and inertial effects are compared with those obtained for no soil–structure interaction and inertial interaction only. The more important parameters involved are identified and their influences are examined over practical ranges of interest. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simplified model for torsional foundation vibrations

A simplified model is presented to simulate unbounded soil for torsional foundation vibration problems. Based on the criterion of equivalent displacement response, a group of equivalent models are developed for a foundation-soil system. An optimal equivalent model is then determined to represent the best simplified model. The parameters of the optimal equivalent model may be obtained by a much easier and more efficient method than lengthy optimization techniques used by most existing lumped-parameter models. The dynamic torsional responses of the foundation-soil system using the optimal equivalent models are very consistent with those obtained by the half-space theory and by the existing models. With fewer parameters, the optimal equivalent model is also found to be as accurate as most existing models. This proposed method may be effectively applied to practical torsionally vibrating problems involving soil–structure interaction.     

Soil-pile interaction in vertical vibration induced through a frictional interface

The interaction between a soil layer and an end bearing pile in vertical vibration induced through the frictional interface is theoretically investigated. The pile is assumed to be vertical and elastic, whereas the soil is considered as a linear visco-elastic layer with hysteretic damping. Slip between the pile and the soil is allowed to occur along the frictional interface, in which the hysteretic frictional stress is linearized to permit modal decomposition. Approximate solutions of the pile and the soil for steady-harmonic loads are obtained in closed form by composing the wave modes of the layer. The displacement amplitudes of the pile and the soil, the critical slip force, the stiffness of the pile head, and the modal stiffness contribution of the soil to the pile are evaluated numerically with respect to the ratio of applied force level to the slip stress level and the slenderness ratio, at various frequencies.     

Dynamic nonlinear response of pile foundations under vertical vibration—Theory versus experiment

The influence of nonlinearity on the dynamic response of cast-in-situ reinforced concrete piles subjected to strong vertical excitation was studied. Forced vibration test of single piles (L/d=10, 15, 20) and 2×2 pile groups (s/d=2, 3, 4 for each L/d) were conducted in the field for two different embedded conditions of pile cap. From the measured nonlinear response curves, the effective pile–soil system mass, stiffness and damping were determined and the nonlinear response curves were back-calculated using the theory of nonlinear vibration. The test results were compared with the continuum approach of Novak with dynamic interaction factor approach using both linear and linear-equivalent numerical methods. Reasonable match between the measured and predicted response was found for linear-equivalent methods by introducing a weak boundary-zone around the pile to approximately account for the nonlinear behaviour of pile–soil system. The test data were used to establish the empirical relationship in order to estimate the extent of soil separation around the pile with soil under vertical vibration.     

Nonlinear lateral interaction in pile dynamics

A model for pile lateral response to transient dynamic loading and to harmonic loading is presented allowing for nonlinear soil behaviour, discontinuity conditions at the pile-soil interface and energy dissipation through different types of damping. The approach is used to establish equivalent linear stiffness and damping parameters of single piles as well as dynamic interaction factors for approximate nonlinear analysis of pile groups. The applicability of these parameters to the pile-group analysis was examined, and a reasonable agreement with the direct analysis was found. The superposition technique may be used to analyze the response of small pile groups. Also, the dynamic stiffness of pile groups is greatly affected by both the nonlinear behavior of the soil and the slippage and gapping between the pile and soil. For a basic range of soil and pile parameters, equivalent linear stiffness and damping parameters of single piles and interaction factors for approximate nonlinear analysis are provided.     

Longitudinal integral response deformation method for the seismic analysis of a tunnel structure

For the longitudinal seismic response analysis of a tunnel structure under asynchronous earthquake excitations, a longitudinal integral response deformation method classified as a practical approach is proposed in this paper. The determinations of the structural critical moments when maximal deformations and internal forces in the longitudinal direction occur are deduced as well. When applying the proposed method, the static analysis of the free-field computation model subjected to the least favorable free-field deformation at the tunnel buried depth is performed first to calculate the equivalent input seismic loads. Then, the equivalent input seismic loads are imposed on the integral tunnel-foundation computation model to conduct the static calculation. Afterwards, the critical longitudinal seismic responses of the tunnel are obtained. The applicability of the new method is verified by comparing the seismic responses of a shield tunnel structure in Beijing, determined by the proposed procedure and by a dynamic time-history analysis under a series of obliquely incident out-ofplane and in-plane waves. The results show that the proposed method has a clear concept with high accuracy and simple progress. Meanwhile, this method provides a feasible way to determine the critical moments of the longitudinal seismic responses of a tunnel structure. Therefore, the proposed method can be effectively applied to analyze the seismic response of a long-line underground structure subjected to non-uniform excitations.     

Free‐vibration analysis of a three‐dimensional soil–structure system

A procedure which involves a non‐linear eigenvalue problem and is based on the substructure method is proposed for the free‐vibration analysis of a soil–structure system. In this procedure, the structure is modelled by the standard finite element method, while the unbounded soil is modelled by the scaled boundary finite element method. The fundamental frequency, and the corresponding radiation damping ratio as well as the modal shape are obtained by using inverse iteration. The free vibration of a dam–foundation system, a hemispherical cavity and a hemispherical deposit are analysed in detail. The numerical results are compared with available results and are also verified by the Fourier transform of the impulsive response calculated in the time domain by the three‐dimensional soil–structure–wave interaction analysis procedure proposed in our previous paper. The fundamental frequency obtained by the present procedure is very close to that obtained by Touhei and Ohmachi, but the damping ratio and the imaginary part of modal shape are significantly different due to the different definition of damping ratio. This study shows that although the classical mode‐superposition method is not applicable to a soil–structure system due to the frequency dependence of the radiation damping, it is still of interest in earthquake engineering to evaluate the fundamental frequency and the corresponding radiation damping ratio of the soil–structure system. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

液化侧扩流场地桥梁群桩效应分析

基于u-p有限元公式模拟饱和砂土中水和土颗粒完全耦合效应,建立液化侧向流场地群桩动力反应分析的三维数值模型。模型中,砂土采用多屈服面弹塑性本构模型模拟、黏土采用多屈服面运动塑性模型模拟,群桩在计算过程中保持线弹性状态;采用20节点的六面体单元和考虑孔压效应的20-8节点分别划分黏土层和饱和砂层;选用剪切梁边界处理计算域的人工边界,模拟地震过程中土层的剪切效应;应用瑞利阻尼考虑体系的阻尼效应。随后对比分析2×2群桩中各单桩的地震反应规律,结果表明,各单桩的弯矩、位移时程规律基本一致,峰值弯矩及峰值位移出现时刻滞后于输入加速度峰值时刻,上坡向桩的弯矩和位移峰值大于下坡向的桩的反应值。接着通过改变桩间距研究群桩效应,随着桩间距增加,群桩中各单桩的弯矩最大值均出现在土层分界处,且各单桩的弯矩、桩顶位移逐渐增大。最后给出液化侧向流场地群桩效应的基本原因,得出该类场地群桩抗震设计的基本认识。     

Parametric earthquake response of torsionally coupled buildings with foundation interaction

A study is made of the effect of soil-structure interaction on the coupled lateral and torsional responses of asymmetric buildings subjected to a series of historical free-field earthquake base motions. It sh shown that for particular classes of actual buildings the equivalent rigid-base responses are significantly increased for structures founded on medium-stiff soils, and hence the assumption of the major building codes that a conservative estimate of response is obtained by considering the structure to be fixed rigidly at its base is shown to be inconsistent with the presented dynamic results. It is shown that foundation interaction produces greatest amplification of torsional coupling effects for structures subjected to a particular class of European strong-motion earthquake records, identified by similarities in their spectral shape, for which the vibrational energy of the ground motion is distributed approximately uniformly over the range of frequencies which are of interest for real structures. It is recommended that provision be made in the torsional design procedures of building codes for the increase in the coupled torsional response due to soil-structure interaction as indicated in this study. Such provision should be based on the results of comprehensive parametric studies employing a wide selection of earthquake records and accounting for expected variations in localized soil conditions.     

A novel simple procedure to consider seismic soil structure interaction effects in 2D models

A method is proposed to estimate the seismic soil-structure-interaction (SSI) effects for use in engineering practice. It is applicable to 2D structures subjected to vertically incident shear waves supported by homogenous half-spaces. The method is attractive since it keeps the simplicity of the spectral approach, overcomes some of the difficulties and inaccuracies of existing classical techniques and yet it considers a physically consistent excitation. This level of simplicity is achieved through a response spectra modification factor that can be applied to the free-field 5%-damped response spectra to yield design spectral ordinates that take into account the scattered motions introduced by the interaction effects. The modification factor is representative of the Transfer Function (TF) between the structural relative displacements and the free-field motion, which is described in terms of its maximum amplitude and associated frequency. Expressions to compute the modification factor by practicing engineers are proposed based upon a parametric study using 576 cases representative of actual structures. The method is tested in 10 cases spanning a wide range of common fundamental vibration periods.     

A seismic free field input model for FE-SBFE coupling in time domain

A seismic free field input formulation of the coupling procedure of the finite element (FE) and the scaled boundary finite-element (SBFE) is proposed to perform the unbounded soil-structure interaction analysis in time domain. Based on the substructure technique, seismic excitation of the soil-structure system is represented by the free-field motion of an elastic half-space. To reduce the computational effort, the acceleration unit-impulse response function of the unbounded soil is decomposed into two functions; linear and residual. The latter converges to zero and can be truncated as required. With the prescribed tolerance parameter, the balance between accuracy and efficiency of the procedure can be controlled. The validity of the model is verified by the scattering analysis of a hemi-spherical canyon subjected to plane harmonic P, SV and SH wave incidence. Numerical results show that the new procedure is very efficient for seismic problems within a normal range of frequency. The coupling procedure presented herein can be applied to linear and nonlinear earthquake response analysis of practical structures which are built on unbounded soil. Supproted by: the National Key Basic Research and Development Program under Grant No. 2002CB412709     

Seismic torsional response and design procedures for a class of setback frame buildings

This paper presents results of an analytical study of the inelastic earthquake torsional response of a class of setback frame buildings. In the first part of the study, the modal response spectrum analysis procedure is utilized to determine the yielding strengths of structural members in an idealized but representative setback frame building model. Results are then presented for the inelastic dynamic response of this setback building model subjected to an ensemble of six earthquake ground motions. The results indicate that the modal response spectrum analysis procedure is inadequate for preventing excessive response leading to concentration of damage in vulnerable structural members, such as those in the tower near the notch and those in the base (the part of the structure below the tower) near the perimeter at the opposite side of the tower. The second part of the study develops a modified equivalent static force procedure for strength design of such setback frame buildings. Response analyses show that the proposed procedure results in improved and satisfactory inelastic performance of the selected class of setback frame buildings, having a wide range of realistic configurations.     

Seismic response analysis of highway overcrossings including soil–structure interaction

This paper presents a systematic procedure for the seismic response analysis of highway overcrossings. The study employs an elementary stick model and a more sophisticated finite element formulation to compute response quantities. All dynamic stiffnesses of approach embankments and pile groups are approximated with frequency‐independent springs and dashpots that have been established elsewhere. A real eigenvalue analysis confirms the one‐to‐one correspondence between modal characteristics obtained with the three‐dimensional finite element solutions and the result of the simpler stick‐model idealization. A complex eigenvalue analysis yields modal damping values in the first six modes of interest and shows that modal damping ratios assume values much higher than those used by Caltrans. The validity of the proposed method is examined by comparing the computed time response quantities with records from the Meloland Road and Painter Street overcrossings located in southern and northern California, respectively. The proposed procedure allows for inexpensive parametric analysis that examines the importance of considering soil–structure interaction at the end abutments and centre bent. Results and recommendations presented by past investigations are revisited and integrated in comprehensive tables that improve our understanding of the dynamic characteristics and behaviour of freeway overcrossings. The study concludes with a step‐by‐step methodology that allows for a simple, yet dependable dynamic analysis of freeway overcrossings, that involves a stick model and frequency‐independent springs and dashpots. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.