Numerical Study on Settlement of Building with Shallow Foundation Under Earthquake Loading

Abstract

Earthquake-induced ground shaking can cause settlement in free-field sites and subsidence of ground structures. In recent years, numerous cases of liquefaction-induced settlement of buildings with shallow foundations have been observed on liquefiable soils. To investigate the soil liquefaction and building settlement, a three-dimensional (3D) soil-foundation-structure numerical model is built to simulate the development of pore water pressure and soil deformation in liquefiable ground during earthquakes. The bounding surface constitutive model and variable permeability function are adopt in numerical simulation with the finite element program OpenSees. The model is validated by the results of a centrifuge shaking table test under earthquake loading from a literature, and the simulation accuracy of pore water pressure and ground settlement in free-field are evaluated. On the basis of the 3D numerical model, the seismic responses of shallow foundation are simulated to certify the effectiveness of numerical simulation of foundation settlement and pore water pressure underneath the center of foundation. The soil-foundation-structure-interaction (SFSI) can aggravate the foundation settlement, foundation inclination and the instability of development of pore water pressure at sites adjacent to the foundation.