Ductility demands of tall buildings subjected to base rocking induced by Rayleigh waves

Performance-based earthquake engineering requires accurate estimation of structural response associated with different damage states because of strong ground motion. In recent work (Meza-Fajardo and Papageorgiou, 2018, EESD), we demonstrated that a significant contribution to the response of elastic soil-structure systems for high-rise buildings is attributed to base rocking associated with Rayleigh waves. The present paper presents results of a study investigating the effects of Rayleigh waves on the response of soil-structure systems with nonlinear behavior at the level of the superstructure. By introducing a rigid-elastic rotational spring at the base of the building, we take into account the stiffness reduction due to damage to the lateral load-resisting system at its root, and with it, increased displacement demands. Considering different levels of ductility and post-yield stiffness, we investigate the impact of rocking because of Rayleigh waves on maximum and residual interstory drift ratios. Our results indicate that rocking due to surface waves should be an important consideration for design and evaluation of tall buildings, as inelastic action elongates their effective natural period, and consequently, they are more prone to be damaged by resonance and excitation of extended duration because of Rayleigh waves.