Influence of the soil-structure interaction on the fundamental period of buildings

This paper includes an investigation of the influence of the soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the fundamental period of buildings. The behaviour of both the soil and the structure is assumed to be elastic. The soil-foundation system is modelled using translational and rotational discrete springs. Analysis is first conducted for one-storey buildings. It shows that the influence of the SSI on the fundamental frequency of building depends on the soil-structure relative rigidity K, Analysis is then extended for multi-storey buildings. It allows the generalization of the soil-structure relative rigidity K, to such complex structures. Charts are proposed for taking into account the influence of the SSI in the calculation of the fundamental frequency of a wide range of buildings. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.