Dynamic characteristics of soil-foundation interaction system detected from forced vibration test and earthquake observation

This paper presents some results on the following subjects obtained from in-situ forced vibration tests and earthquake observations. (1) The characteristics of the radiation damping of soil-foundation interaction systems vs. non-dimensional frequency a₀ (=ωr/V_s) were experimentally estimated by the equivalent damping ratios h_H ( = K′_H/2K_H) and h_R ( = K′_R/2K_R), which were defined by complex stiffnesses 1K_H (= K_H + iK_H) and 1K_R (= K_R + iK′_R) of soil. The results for h_H and h_R of base rock were compared with those of soft soil. (2) A comparative study of experimental and theoretical results was made. The theoretical results were obtained from elastic half-space theory. (3) A semi-empirical equation to estimate the equivalent S-wave velocity for the elastic half-space model is proposed here, considering the effects of layered media. (4) Various comparisons of the results of 1 K_H, 1 K_R, h_H and h_R of forced vibration tests and earthquake observations were made.