Earthquake induced pounding between adjacent buildings considering soil-structure interaction

Many closely located adjacent buildings have suffered from pounding during past earthquakes because they vibrated out of phase. Furthermore, buildings are usually constructed on soil; hence, there are interactions between the buildings and the underlying soil that should also be considered. This paper examines both the interaction between adjacent buildings due to pounding and the interaction between the buildings through the soil as they affect the buildings' seismic responses. The developed model consists of adjacent shear buildings resting on a discrete soil model and a linear viscoelastic contact force model that connects the buildings during pounding. The seismic responses of adjacent buildings due to ground accelerations are obtained for two conditions: fixed-based (FB) and structure-soil-structure interaction (SSSI). The results indicate that pounding worsens the buildings' condition because their seismic responses are amplified after pounding. Moreover, the underlying soil negatively impacts the buildings' seismic responses during pounding because the ratio of their seismic response under SSSI conditions with pounding to those without pounding is greater than that of the FB condition.