Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mohammed A. Abdulaziz
• Mohammed J. Hamood
• Mohammed Y. Fattah

Civil Engineering Dept., University of Technology-Iraq, Alsina’a street, 10066 Baghdad, Iraq.

Abstract

Seismic activity has emerged as a mostly attractive issue for researchers and engineers, particularly in light of the recent occurrence of severe earthquakes worldwide, such as those felt in Turkey and Syria. Most entities prone to seismic damage are the structures. Any type of structure consists of a composite system involving structure, foundation, and soil. Previously, numerical and analytical methods for dynamic seismic analysis of structures ignored the impact of this system during earthquakes. In other words, soil-structure interaction (SSI) was ignored. Moreover, another important factor that was not considered is the interaction between structures and soil, or what is called structure-soil-structure interaction (SSSI), which usually occurs between two adjacent structures. This research aims to comprehensively understand the SSSI by performing a series of dynamic tests using a shaking table system. The tests concentrate on the effect of height on the dynamic behavior between two adjacent steel structures rested on sand soil. This study employed four novel small-scale multi-degree-of-freedom steel structure models: three, four, and five-story steel structures against a three-story steel structure. The results indicated that the tallest building had the maximum effect on the shorter one, especially on the top displacement with a peak value of 3.82 cm, top acceleration with a peak value of about 0.2 g, and foundation rotation with a peak value of around 1 degree. However, the effect of the structure height has a reverse impact on the soil pressure beneath the foundation of the shortest structure since the largest pressure response was recorded for the effect of the shortest similar adjacent building with a peak value of 8.8 kPa. In comparison, the highest building has the lowest effect on the shortest building, with a peak value of 6 kPa. 

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

• Seismic tests consisted of three small-scale structural steel models of varying heights on sand soil.
• Structural seismic responses were represented by time-domain behaviors like acceleration and displacement.
• Taller buildings strongly affected shorter adjacent buildings' acceleration and displacement.
• Taller buildings weakly affected the soil pressure of adjacent shorter buildings.

Keywords

• structure interaction (SSI) Structure
• soil
• structure interaction (SSSI) Seismic analysis Adjacent structures Flexibility

Main Subjects

• Civil