Simquake 3: Seismic interactions between building structures and rock-socketed foundations: Final report

It has long been recognized that soil-structure interaction can significantly influence the earthquake response of massive structures such as nuclear power plant reactor buildings. The linear analysis methods that are widely used to model interaction phenomena can result in often unrecognized safety margins in design for earthquake excitation. Use of improved interaction models which capture nonlinear characteristics of interaction---such as energy dissipation and significant changes in stiffness---can provide realistic predictions of the earthquake loads imposed on nuclear power plant structures and equipment, supplying an improved basis for seismic design review. This report documents the results of a research effort investigating the soil-structure (or structure-media) interaction of reinforced concrete structures founded in backfilled rock sockets. The objectives of the research, which included field testing with semi-scale structural models, were: to examine the influence of the backfilled socket on structural dynamic response; and to develop an experimental data base for the benchmarking of computer simulation procedures.