Effect of Soil Structure Interaction On Structural Response
It has conventionally been considered that soil-structure interaction has beneficial effect on the seismic response of a structure. Many design codes have suggested that the effect of SSI can reasonably be neglected for the seismic analysis of structures. This myth about SSI apparently stems from the false perception that SSI reduces the overall seismic response of a structure, and hence, leads to improved safety margins. Most of the design codes use oversimplified design spectra, which attain constant acceleration up to a certain period, and thereafter decreases monotonically with period. Considering soil-structure interaction makes a structure more flexible and thus, increasing the natural period of the structure compared to the corresponding rigidly supported structure. Moreover, considering the SSI effect increases the effective damping ratio of the system. The smooth idealization of design spectrum suggests smaller seismic response with the increased natural periods and effective damping ratio due to SSI. With this assumption, it was traditionally been considered that SSI can conveniently be neglected for conservative design. In addition, neglecting SSI tremendously reduces the complication in the analysis of the structures which has tempted designers to neglect the effect of SSI in the analysis.
This conservative simplification is valid for certain class of structures and soil conditions, such as light structures in relatively stiff soil. Unfortunately, the assumption does not always hold true. In fact, the SSI can have a detrimental effect on the structural response, and neglecting SSI in the analysis may lead to unsafe design for both the superstructure and the foundation.
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