NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Flexible Sub-Surface Building-Foundation Interfaces for Aseismic Design (Preliminary Studies).
- File
- PB81243891.pdf
- Author(s)
- Raupach, E.; Schumacker, B.; Biggs, J. M.
- Source
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC., April 1981, 138 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- R81-8
- Abstract
- The feasibility of constructing buildings on horizontally flexible foundations to mitigate the effects of earthquakes is explored. The specific concept studied involves the use of slender steel piles enclosed in sleeves to permit flexural distortion. Piles are designed by a simple procedure using smoothed response spectra. The performance of the designed systems are then studied using time histories of actual ground motions. It is shown that the simple design procedure is adequate. Building-pile systems with periods up to 12 seconds are found to be physically feasible. This results in maximum building forces corresponding to seismic coefficients less than current code requirements even though the building remains elastic. The report includes descriptions of ground motions used in the study, pile design equations and procedures, and the time-history analysis.
- Keywords
- Seismic design; Earthquake resistant structures; Structural design; Dynamic response; Ground motion; Earthquake engineering; Buildings; Lateral stability; Pile foundations; Soil structure interactions; Flexible foundations; Design criteria; Earthquakes