The effect of soil–structure interaction on the along-wind response of high-rise buildings

Abstract

Rapid population growth tends to lead to the construction of tall buildings. It is thus necessary to study the influential parameters on the behaviour of tall structures due to wind action. Soil deformability is one parameter that can affect the aerodynamic behaviour of tall structures. In this work, the impact of wind on the standard tall building of the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Research Council, placed on a raft footing, was numerically modelled using Abaqus software. The wind was defined by a power function in the boundary layer of the atmosphere. Stream turbulence was modelled using the implicit large eddy simulation technique and a co-simulation was used to exchange non-uniform loads from the fluid domain to the structural domain. The mechanical reaction of the footing–soil framework was modelled using a direct strategy. Infinite boundary conditions were added to the numerical model for simulation of free boundaries and appropriate contact elements for sliding and separation between subsurface components were considered. The fluid and structural solutions were compared with the mean and root mean square values of experimental estimations for an extensive range of reduced speeds. Numerical results for the framework with soil–structure interaction (SSI) were compared with those without SSI. The dynamic properties and reactions of the building subjected to wind loading were affected by the SSI and therefore engineers should consider these parameters to guarantee practical designs.