A review of experimental soil-structure interaction damping

In soil-structure interaction analysis, the foundation soil is usually represented by impedance springs and dampers. The impedance damping includes the effect of both the material damping and the radiation damping. Because the impedance theory normally assumes a rigid structural base and an elastic bond between the soil and structure, it is generally held that the radiation damping has been overestimated by the theory. There are some published information on the dynamic tests of footings and structures that allow direct or indirect assessments of the validity of the analytical radiation damping. An overview of such information is presented here. Based on these limited test data, it is concluded that for horizontal soil-structure interaction analysis the analytical radiation damping alone is sufficient to represent the combined material and radiation damping in the field. On the other hand, for vertical analysis it appears that the theory may have overestimated the radiation damping and certain reduction is recommended. (orig.)