A study on the effects of the foundation compliance on the response of yielding structures using dimensional analysis

The effects of the foundation compliance on the dynamic response of yielding systems are evaluated using rigorous dimensional analysis. To this end, a soil-foundation-structure system is subjected to strong ground motion and its seismic response is determined in terms of dimensionless parameters. The seismic demand of the system is calculated as a function of meaningful engineering parameters, such as the yielding acceleration and yielding displacement of the structure, the system mass and damping, as well as the dynamic characteristics of the foundation. It is proved that the seismic demand is strongly dependent on the foundation to excitation pulse predominant frequency ratio. For large values of yielding acceleration, the demand depends strongly on the yielding displacement and the mass. Moreover, there is a strength range where an increase in strength results in an increase in displacements—a counter intuitive situation. The larger the yielding displacement, the larger the seismic demand. Furthermore, the larger the foundation soil mass, the larger the seismic demand. Finally, an application of the procedure on an actual structure proves that soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) is not always beneficial for the structure.