Nonlinear Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction Analysis and Application to Lotung Problem

Accurate representation of soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects is a cru­cial part of earthquake engineering analysis. In this thesis, a finite element (FE) model that takes account of soil nonlinearity right at the onset of loading is used for analyzing dynamic SSI effects.

Of particular importance to the SSI analysis concerns the issue of appro­priate boundary condition which ensures that the free-field motion is properly generated in the nonlinear regime. In this research, a 10 model that considers the coupled kinematical response of soil is used to generate the input free-field motion for 30 nonlinear SSI analysis.

The 30 model developed in this study is used to interpret the ground motion data recorded by seismic arrays installed in Lotung, a seismically active region in northeastern Taiwan. Lotung is the site of two scaled-down nuclear plant containment structures ( 1/4-scale and 1/12-scale models) constructed by Electric Power Research Institute in cooperation with Taiwan Power Company for soil-structure interaction research. The numerical predictions are compared with the recorded motions to assess the accuracy of the model.