Soil-structure interaction - a general method to calculate soil impedance

A correct analysis of the seismic response of nuclear power plant buildings needs to take into account the soil structure interaction. The most classical and simple method consists in characterizing the soil by a stiffness and a damping function for each component of the translation and rotation of the foundation. In a more exact way an impedance function of the frequency may be introduced. Literature provides data to estimate these coefficients for simple soil and foundation configurations and using linear hypothesis. This paper presents a general method to calculate soil impedances which is based on the computation of the impulsive response of the soil using an axisymmetric 2D finite element Code (INCA). The Fourier transform of this response is made in the time interval before the return of the reflected waves on the boundaries of the F.E. domain. This procedure which limits the perturbing effects of the reflections is improved by introducing absorbing boundary elements. A parametric study for homogeneous and layered soils has been carried out using this method. (orig.)