Nonlinear Static Seismic Analysis and Its Application to Shallow Founded Buildings with Soil-Structure Interaction

This paper presents new research in the field of nonlinear static seismic analysis and the N2 method for soil-structure systems. The rationale for this study stems from the inclusion of soil-structure systems in simplified displacement-based design methods. The conducted research comprises three parts, including original experimental investigations, the development of numerical models and the validation of results. A new methodology is presented that provides a step-by-step procedure for the implementation of the N2 method on soil-structure systems. Results of a dynamic shake-table test on a simplified scaled structural model founded on compacted dry sand are presented, and a numerical model of the experiment is developed and calibrated with the inclusion of soil-structure interaction effects. This indicates one main significance of this paper, which is the variation between the experimental and the analytical model and how they can be compared. Lastly, a case study was conducted on a numerical model of a 3D steel building. The building was analysed using pushover analysis for a fixed base-case and by considering soil-structure interaction effects. The results of both observed cases were mutually compared and further examined by validating them with nonlinear dynamic analyses. A comparison was conducted considering the inter-story drifts, calculated according to the N2 method and time-history analyses. The results show good agreement when the N2 method is used for buildings on compliant soils. Overall, it was observed that a decrease in the inter-story drifts appears at ground level of the building. This research also provides a framework for future research in the examined field, for instance, on different types of buildings, building typologies and irregularities of the structural system.

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