Torsional Effect in Soil-Structure Interaction

Abstract

A simplified method to evaluate the dynamic response of a building, including the wave propagation effects of ground motion is described. This method is based on a computer code that can calculate the dynamic response of buildings subject to multisupport excitation given impedance data calculated by other methods. Only linear systems and symmetrical structure are considered. The soil-structure interaction effect is accounted for by including in the dynamic model, the compliance functions of the soil medium. The computer capability required is widely available within the nuclear industry. The study concluded that within the assumptions made and analytical models considered, the practical solution scheme adopted in this study by applying earthquake input motion sequentially at nodal points on the foundations seems to be simple to use in the investigation of translational and torsional structure responses subjected to the traveling wave effect of seismic ground motion. Also, the soil-structure interaction effect may be important in calculating translational and torsional responses due to the traveling wave effect of earthquake excitation.