Field Structural Dynamic Tests at the Volvi-Greece European Test Site

Abstract

This paper presents summary results from a series of field experiments conducted in situ with structural models, built with realistic foundation conditions and instrumented in an effort to study their dynamic behaviour at a test site in Greece. Through these experiments the influence of structure-foundation-soil interaction could be studied in some detail. Moreover, the variation of the dynamic characteristics of these structural models could be linked to certain changes in their structural system, including the development of structural damage. The measured response was next utilized to validate numerical tools capable of predicting influences arising from such structural changes as well as from soil-foundation interaction. The studied model structures were supported on soft soil deposits thus allowing the study of structure-foundation-soil interaction effects during low-to-medium intensity man-made excitations. The in situ experiments conducted at the Volvi test site provided measurements that could be used to verify certain hypotheses as well as validated numerical simulations that were developed to predicted the response of the studied structures. A focal point was the investigation of the influence of the masonry infills for the 6-story structure as well as that of the soil-foundation interaction effects for both the 6-story as well as the bridge pier model structures and their inclusion in the numerical simulations. Special study concentrated on how neighbouring structures can introduce coupling in the soil-foundation interaction as well as how soil-foundation interaction effects propagate.