Performance of an RC building under seismic and tsunami actions in sequence via nonlinear dynamic analysis including soil-structure-interaction

Abstract

The present research studies the behavior of an RC frame building subjected toseismic and tsunami loading in sequence, considering soil structure interaction effectsthrough a complete dynamic analysis. The building is assumed to be located in acoastal city in Chile and built on sandy soil. A 3D Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) modelincluding the non-linear behavior of both the structure and the soil using finite elementmethod (FEM) was presented. Synthetic seismic ground motion records and tsunamiinundation time histories were generated, consistent with the same earthquake source.Building performance was first assessed considering the SSI model for each hazardseparately and compared to a Fixed Base (FB) model. Then, the SSI model wassubjected to seismic and tsunami loading in sequence. Engineering DemandParameters (EDPs) of roof displacement, IDR and reinforcement strain in beams andcolumns were analyzed. These EDPs presented a larger response to the tsunamiwhen the response to the previous earthquake was larger. Finally, two verticalevacuation building scenarios were studied: the location of the refugees and the effectof an aftershock occurring simultaneously with the tsunami inundation. Results showedthat the location of the refugees did not generate significant differences in the buildingresponse, and the aftershoc