Evaluation of the Seismic Response of Reinforced Concrete Buildings Based on Time-History Analysis considering Nonlinear Soil Effects

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents a practical procedure using nonlinear time-history analysis to assess the seismic demand of reinforced concrete buildings considering nonlinear soil effects. The purpose of this paper is to employ a spectral method to avoid soil-structure-interaction analysis considering nonlinear site-specific conditions. In this regard, structural models were assessed by dynamic analysis using site-specific spectra that included soil-nonlinearity. Ground motion records compatible with target spectra were scaled based on a wavelet-based algorithm. The results indicate that the structural drift and force demand increase considerably due to soil-nonlinearity. Furthermore, the soil-nonlinearity leads to larger structural responses at clayey sites than at sandy ones.