Assessment of Soil-Structure Interaction in Seismic Bridge Pier Analysis Using Force and Displacement Based Approaches

The seismic analysis carried out assuming foundation to be perfectly rigid and bonded to the soil underneath is far from truth and therefore, the soil-structure interaction effect on the dynamic behavior of the bridge pier should be considered. The assessment of soil-structure effect on the design force generated has been estimated using Force based, Capacity Spectrum and Direct Displacement based methods considering fixed and flexible foundations. For this purpose a single cantilever bridge pier of constant diameter with varying heights has been considered for the analysis in different type of soils and earthquake zones. The study has revealed that soil-Structure Interaction index is negative in some cases, especially in soft soil, implying base shear demand being greater than that of fixed base contrary to the traditional views.