Nonlinear seismic response of reinforced‐concrete free‐standing towers with application to TV towers on flexible foundations

Abstract

AbstractReinforced‐concrete (R/C) free‐standing towers such as TV towers are often analysed using elastic analyses as fixed‐base cantilever beams, ignoring the effect of soil–structure interaction. To take the capacity of structures after yielding into account, most designers usually prefer to decrease the peak values of the elastic response spectrum for the maximum credible earthquake (MCE) anticipated at the site by a factor called the ductility capacity factor, which varies with the design earthquake level and the structural characteristics of the structure neglecting the effect of supporting soil. To investigate the effect of foundation flexibility on the response of R/C free‐standing towers deforming into their inelastic range during intense ground shaking, a linear sway‐rocking model is applied in numerical modelling of the soil–structure system. The effect of concrete cracking and reinforcement yielding on the elements used in the structure modelling is taken into account by introducing a nonlinear model for R/C frame elements using the moment–curvature (M–ϕ) relation. A method called pseudo‐dynamic analysis is presented to quantify the inelastic seismic response spectrum of a soil–R/C free‐standing system using response spectrum analysis method and push‐over analysis technique. The earthquake responses of cracked and uncracked systems for a practical TV tower and a practical range of soil shear wave velocity are calculated and compared with the objective of understanding how soil–structure interaction influences structural responses. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.