Seismic codes based equivalent nonlinear and stochastic soil structure interaction analysis

The aim of this study is to consider the effects of the variation of shear modulus ratio (G/G₀) and damping ratio (ξ) of soil, obtained by a linear iterative method based on the design spectra of seismic codes, the soil environment in terms of uncertainties in shear modulus using Monte Carlo simulations and the foundation damping (ξ_f) of flexible base for analyses of the Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) problems. A squat structure with circular shallow foundation resting on a soil layer over a homogeneous half-space is studied by using cone model and considering seismic zone effect on structural response. Firstly, after showing the effects of the correction of G and ξ on impedance functions and the responses of soil-foundation-structure system, a study is carried out to compare these effects to those of the modelling of uncertainties in shear modulus as random variations. Secondly, a comparative analysis on design response spectra and base shear forces was carried out for four seismic codes (Algerian Seismic Rules RPA99-2003, Eurocode 8–2004, International Building Code IBC-2015 and Indian Code IS-1893-2002) considering the three cases of SSI: SSI effects (initial G and ξ), nonlinear SSI (corrected G and ξ) and stochastic SSI (random G with COV = 20%) compared to the fixed base case. Results show that the correction of G and ξ, according to the equivalent nonlinear method in all the cases, leads to a remarkable decrease in peak responses but show a huge amount of reduction in the second study for IBC-2015 and IS-1893-2002 codes compared to the other codes.