Estimating kinematic interaction of raft foundations from earthquake records and its effects on structural response

Abstract

A practical method for estimating kinematic interaction from earthquake records is presented. The kinematic interaction is characterized by a two-parameter model and these parameters can be estimated by using a frequency-domain systems identification method. The simple model can be used to model both wave passage effects and the effects of incoherent wave fields. Numerical simulation tests show that kinematic interaction parameters can be estimated to their best accuracy by using building base responses and the free-field excitation and can also be estimated by using building responses, base responses and the free-field excitation. The method was applied to two buildings with raft foundations and it was found that kinematic interaction was significant during earthquakes. Published theoretical models (wave passage effect) for vertically incident SH waves can be used to estimate the transfer functions up to 4–5 Hz and the models for horizontally propagating waves under-predict the estimated transfer functions by a significant amount at frequencies beyond about 1–2 Hz. Theoretical models for a massless rigid foundation under the excitation of an incoherent wave field predict the general trend of the estimated transfer function reasonably well over a large frequency range. The results of numerical examples show that the recorded response spectral attenuation of basement records at high frequencies with respect to the free-field is mainly caused by kinematic interaction, while the changes in storey shear and overturning moment in a structure due to soil flexibility are mainly the results of inertial interaction.