Earthquake Induced Pounding-Involved Response of Base-Isolated Buildings Incorporating Soil Flexibility

Abstract

This research aims to get some insight into the influence of supporting soil on the seismic response of base-isolated buildings impacting with the neighbouring retaining wall. Two ground motion records from two different regions are used as excitations. A nonlinear impact model is incorporated to capture the pounding force. In addition, an efficient discrete-element model is applied to represent the rotational and horizontal movements of the soil. The dynamic response of the isolated building resting on different flexible base soils and hits the adjacent abutment and the corresponding response of the building resting on a rigid base soil are presented. Analysis of the results expressed in the form of time-history and peak response for various values of structural natural periods, gap sizes, and base-isolated periods is carried out. The results show a considerable influence of the simultaneous effect of base-isolated pounding and base soil flexibility on the dynamic response of isolated buildings during earthquakes.