Earthquake-induced pounding between equal height multi-storey buildings considering soil-structure interaction

Abstract

The present paper investigates the coupled effect of the supporting soil flexibility and pounding between neighbouring, insufficiently separated equal height buildings under earthquake excitation. Two adjacent three-storey structures, modelled as inelastic lumped mass systems with different structural characteristics, have been considered in the study. The models have been excited using a suit of ground motions with different peak ground accelerations and recorded at different soil types. A nonlinear viscoelastic pounding force model has been employed in order to effectively capture impact forces during collisions. Spring-dashpot elements have been incorporated to simulate the horizontal and rotational movements of the supporting soil. The results of the numerical simulations, in the form of the structural nonlinear responses as well as the time-histories of energy dissipated during pounding-involved vibrations, are presented in the paper. In addition, the variation in storeys peak responses and peak dissipated energies for different gap sizes are also shown and comparisons are made with the results obtained for colliding buildings with fixed-base supports. Observations regarding the incorporation of the soil-structure interaction and its effect on the responses obtained are discussed. The results of the study indicate that the soil-structure interaction significantly influences the pounding-involved responses of equal height buildings during earthquakes, especially the response of the lighter and more flexible structure. It has been found that the soil flexibility decreases storey peak displacements, peak impact forces

Linear and Nonlinear Seismic Structural Impact Response Spectral Analyses

“…There have been specific studies to investigate damage due to pounding for existing buildings and specific situations (Rosenblueth 1986;Scholl 1989;Kasai 1997;Jankowski, Wilde et al 2000;Raheem 2006;Jankowski 2007a;Raheem 2009;Mahmoud, Abd-Elhamed et al 2013;Raheem 2014). These reports highlighted the importance of adequate design for weaker buildings for which structural pounding can produce catastrophic damage.…”

Seismic analysis of adjacent buildings subjected to double pounding considering soil–structure interaction

“…Pounding worsens the adjacent buildings' conditions, which is amplified by the underlying soil, and ignoring the effects of the underlying soil may result in unrealistic and un-conservative designs with detrimental consequences. Mahmoud et al (2013) investigated the coupled effect of the supporting soil flexibility and pounding between neighboring, insufficiently separated equal height buildings under earthquake excitation. Qin and Chouw (2013) presented a numerical investigation of seismic gap between adjacent structures with structure-foundation-soil interaction (SFSI).…”

Physical Modelling of Geotechnical Structures in Ports and Offshore

“…Such samples can be also used in model tests thanks to the development of the modern experimental stations for physical modelling in geotechnics, like centrifuge facilities or calibration chamber devices. The soil models and soilstructure interaction under seismic loading can be also studied in shaking table model test [13] where the inertia forces can be taken into consideration.…”