• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.421-434
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• 2005

In this paper, the finite element method is applied to investigate the effect of the lateral boundary in homogenous soil on the seismic response of a superstructure. Some influencing factors are presented and discussed, and several parameters are identified to be important for conducting soil-structure interaction experiments on shaking tables. Numerical results show that the cross-section width L, thickness H, wave propagation velocity and lateral boundaries of soil layer have certain influences on the computational accuracy. The dimensionless parameter L/H is the most significant one among the influencing factors. In other words, a greater depth of soil layer near the foundation should be considered in shaking table tests as the thickness of the soil layer increases, which can be regarded as a linear relationship approximately. It is also found that the wave propagation velocity in soil layer affects the numerical accuracy and it is suggested to consider a greater depth of the soil layer as the wave propagation velocity increases. A numerical study on a soil-structure experimental model with a rubber ring surrounding the soil on a shaking table is also conducted. It is found the rubber ring has great effect on the soil-structure interaction experiments on shaking table. The experimental precision can be improved by reasonably choosing the elastic parameter and width of the rubber ring.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.219-230
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• 2022

Knowing that the variability of soil properties is an important source of uncertainty in geotechnical analyses, we will study in this paper the effect of this variability on the seismic response of a structure within the framework of Soil Structure Interaction (SSI). We use the proposed and developed model (N2-ISS, Mekki et al., 2014). This approach is based on an extension of the N2 method by determining the capacity curve of the fixed base system oscillating mainly in the first mode, then modified to obtain the capacity curve of the system on a flexible basis using the concept of the equivalent nonlinear oscillator. The properties of the soil that we are interested in this paper will be the shear wave velocity and the soil damping. These parameters will be modeled at first, as independent random fields, then, the two parameters will be correlated. The results obtained showed the importance of the use of random field in the study of SSI systems. The variability of soil damping and shear wave velocity introduces significant uncertainty not only in the evaluation of the damping of the soil-structure system but also in the estimation of the displacement of the structure and the base-shear force.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.125-132
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• 2014

In this study, a series of dynamic centrifuge tests were performed for a soil-foundation-structural interaction system in dry sand with various embedded depths and superstructure conditions. Sinusoidal wave, sweep wave and real earthquake were used as input motion with various input acceleration and frequencies. Based on the results, a natural period and an earthquake load for soil-structure interaction system were evaluated by comparing the free-field and foundation accelerations. The natural period of free field is longer than that of the soil-foundation-structure system. In addition, it is confirmed that the earthquake load for soil-foundation-structure system is smaller than that of free-field in short period region. In contrast, the earthquake load for soil-foundation-structure interaction system is larger than that of free-field in long period region. Therefore, the current seismic design method, applying seismic loading of free-field to foundation, could overly underestimate seismic load and cause unsafe design for long period structures, such as high-rise buildings.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.505-519
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• 2016

If the seabed is exposed to high waves for a long period, the pore water pressure may be excessive, making the seabed subject to liquefaction. As the water pressure change due to wave action is transmitted to the pore water pressure of the seabed, a phase difference will occur because of the fluid resistance from water permeability. Thus, the effective stress of the seabed will be decreased. If a composite breakwater or other structure with large wave reflection is installed over the seabed, a partial standing wave field is formed, and thus larger wave loading is directly transmitted to the seabed, which considerably influences its stability. To analyze the 3-D dynamic response characteristics of the seabed around a composite breakwater, this study performed a numerical simulation by applying LES-WASS-3D to directly analyze the wave-structure-soil interaction. First, the waveform around the composite breakwater and the pore water pressure in the seabed and rubble mound were compared and verified using the results of existing experiments. In addition, the characteristics of the wave field were analyzed around the composite breakwater, where there was an opening under different incident wave conditions. To analyze the effect of the changed wave field on the 3-D dynamic response of the seabed, the correlation between the wave height distribution and pore water pressure distribution of the seabed was investigated. Finally, the numerical results for the perpendicular phase difference of the pore water pressure were aggregated to understand the characteristics of the 3-D dynamic response of the seabed around the composite breakwater in relation to the water-structure-soil interaction.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2015

This paper presents a detailed procedure for a nonlinear soil-structure interaction of a seismically isolated NPP(Nuclear Power Plant) structure using the boundary reaction method (BRM). The BRM offers a two-step method as follows: (1) the calculation of boundary reaction forces in the frequency domain on an interface of linear and nonlinear regions, (2) solving the wave radiation problem subjected to the boundary reaction forces in the time domain. For the purpose of calculating the boundary reaction forces at the base of the isolator, the KIESSI-3D program is employed in this study to solve soil-foundation interaction problem subjected to vertically incident seismic waves. Wave radiation analysis is also employed, in which the nonlinear structure and the linear soil region are modeled by finite elements and energy absorbing elements on the outer model boundary using a general purpose nonlinear FE program. In this study, the MIDAS/Civil program is employed for modeling the wave radiation problem. In order to absorb the outgoing elastic waves to the unbounded soil region, spring and viscous-damper elements are used at the outer FE boundary. The BRM technique utilizing KIESSI-3D and MIDAS/Civil programs is verified using a linear soil-structure analysis problem. Finally the method is applied to nonlinear seismic analysis of a base-isolated NPP structure. The results show that BRM can effectively be applied to nonlinear soil-structure interaction problems.

• Computational Structural Engineering : An International Journal
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2002

A computationally efficient stiffness design method for building structures is proposed in which dynamic soil-structure interaction based on the wave-propagation theory is taken into account. A sway-rocking shear building model with appropriate ground impedances derived from the cone models due to Meek and Wolf (1994) is used as a simplified design model. Two representative models, i.e. a structure on a homogeneous half-space ground and a structure on a soil layer on rigid rock, are considered. Super-structure stiffness satisfying a desired stiffness performance condition are determined via an inverse problem formulation for a prescribed ground-surface response spectrum. It is shown through a simple yet reasonably accurate model that the ground conditions, e.g. homogeneous half-space or soil layer on rigid rock (frequency-dependence of impedance functions), ground properties (shear wave velocity), depth of surface ground, have extensive influence on the super-structure design.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.379-390
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• 2018

In this study, a numerical approach based on mid-point integrated finite elements and a viscous boundary is proposed for time-domain wave-propagation analyses in infinite poroelastic media. The proposed approach is accurate, efficient, and easy to implement in time-domain analyses. In the approach, an infinite domain is truncated at some distance. The truncated domain is represented by mid-point integrated finite elements with real element-lengths and a viscous boundary is attached to the end of the domain. Given that the dynamic behaviors of the proposed model can be expressed in terms of mass, damping, and stiffness matrices only, it can be implemented easily in the displacement-based finite-element formulation. No convolutional operations are required for time-domain calculations because the coefficient matrices are constant. The proposed numerical approach is applied to typical wave-propagation and soil-structure interaction problems. The model is verified to produce accurate and stable results. It is demonstrated that the numerical approach can be applied successfully to nonlinear soil-structure interaction problems.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.949-963
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• 2017

The main purpose of the current study is to develop the new coefficients for consideration of soil-structure interaction effects to find the elevated tank natural period. Most of the recommended relations to find the natural period just assumed the fixed base condition of elevated tank systems and the soil effects on the natural period are neglected. Two different analytical systems considering soil-structure- fluid interaction effects are recommended in the current study. Achieved results of natural impulsive and convective period, concluded from mentioned models are compared with the results of a numerical model. Two different sets of new coefficients for impulsive and convective periods are developed. The values of the developed coefficients directly depend to soil stiffness values. Additional results show that the soil stiffness not only has significant effects on natural period but also it is effective on liquid sloshing wave height. Both frequency content and soil stiffness have significant effects on the values of liquid wave height.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1989.04a
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• pp.22-27
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• 1989

This paper presents a study of soil-structure interaction problems using infinite elements. The infinite elements are formulated for homogeneous and layered soil media, based on approximate expressions for three components of propagating waves, namely Rayleigh, compressive and shear waves. The integration scheme which was proposed for problems with single wave component by Zienkiewicz is expanded to the multi-wave problem. Verifications are carried out on rigid circular footings which are placed on and embedded in elastic half space. Numerical analysis is performed for a containment structure of a nuclear power plant subjected seismic excitation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.311-321
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• 2013

In this study, to have a better judgment on the structural performance, the effects of dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on seismic behaviour and lateral structural response of mid-rise moment resisting building frames are studied using Finite Difference Method. Three types of mid-rise structures, including 5, 10, and 15 storey buildings are selected in conjunction with three soil types with the shear wave velocities less than 600m/s, representing soil classes $C_e$, $D_e$ and $E_e$, according to Australian Standard AS 1170.4. The above mentioned frames have been analysed under two different boundary conditions: (i) fixed-base (no soil-structure interaction), and (ii) flexible-base (considering soil-structure interaction). The results of the analyses in terms of structural lateral displacements and drifts for the above mentioned boundary conditions have been compared and discussed. It is concluded that the dynamic soil-structure interaction plays a considerable role in seismic behaviour of mid-rise building frames including substantial increase in the lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts and changing the performance level of the structures from life safe to near collapse or total collapse. Thus, considering soil-structure interaction effects in the seismic design of mid-rise moment resisting building frames, particularly when resting on soft soil deposit, is essential.