Soil-structure interaction effects on the steady-state response of torsionally coupled buildings

The work presented in this paper investigates the effect of the foundation flexibility on the coupled lateral-torsional response of single-storey buildings excited by translational ground motion. The eccentricity between the centre of mass and the centre of resistance is considered to be the only cause of coupling of the lateral and torsional response of the building. The study is confined to the steady-state response of rigidly supported and flexibly supported torsionally coupled buildings subjected to harmonic free-field ground displacement perpendicular to the direction of the eccentricity. In the case of the flexibly supported building the foundation medium is assumed to be an elastic homogeneous isotropic half-space. The effect of the controlling parameters on lateral-torsional coupling is investigated. It is concluded that for a particular range of values of these parameters (representing most cases of actual buildings) their effect on the coupling of lateral and torsional response is not qualitatively affected by increases in the flexibility of the foundation medium.