SEISMIC RESPONSE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAMES ON FLEXIBLE FOUNDATIONS SUBJECTED TO BOTH HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL GROUND MOTIONS

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of combined horizontal and vertical accelerations on the seismic response of reinforced concrete resting on shallow foundations. Five and nine-storey buildings are considered to represent low- and medium- rise buildings. The building was assumed to be founded on shallow foundation with soil class corresponding to soft soil deposits, The soil of foundation was modeled by an equivalent massless spring coupled with a gap, located at the base of the structure, allowing for the inelastic bearing capacity of the soil and the loss of contact (uplift) of the base from the supporting soil. The accelergrams used in this investigation in the nonlinear range are the horizontal and vertical components of the New Hall earthquake. Although most building codes postulate that SSI generally decreases the force demand of buildings, and increases the deformation demand, it was found that the inclusion of the vertical ground motion with SSI, the horizontal displacement are decreased compared to the case with only the horizontal component.