NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN 24 (1973) 374-387.

NORTH HOLLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY

SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION OF NUCLEAR REACTOR STRUCTURES

CONSIDERING THROUGH-SOIL COUPLING BETWEEN ADJACENT STRUCTURES

T.H. LEE and D.A. WESLEY

Gulf General Atomic Company, P.O. Box 608, San Diego, California 92112. USA

Received 24 November 1972

The theoretical problem concerning the influence of through-soil coupling between adjacent structures on the
seismic loading of nuclear reactors has been investigated by considering a soil-structure interaction model in which
several three-dimensional flexible structures are bonded to an elastic half-space. These structures, which are allowed
to be either similar or dissimilar, are modeled as conventional discrete systems mounted on separate base slabs of
close proximity, For the purpose of this study, it is assumed that the stiffness of any structure such as piping con-
necting the adjacent buildings is negligible.
For purposes of comparison, the seismic responses of structural masses are determined both with and without
the influence of nearby structures. Both transient and steady-state results are presented and discussed for some
typical simplified two- and three-structure complexes. Emphasis is placed on the effects of through-soil coupling
on the dynamic response of the system rather than actual magnitudes of response which have previously been treated
for plants erected on a single base slab. The significant findings are that nuclear power plants can be designed to
achieve a reduction in seismic loads due to interaction with neighboring structures. Conversely, improper plant de-
sign and layout may result in mutual reinforcement of resonances with increased loads.

1. Introduction

The effects of soil-structure dynamic interaction
upon the seismic response of elastic structures have
been studied by a number of investigators using an
elastic semi-infinite solid for modeling the soil medium.
Early investigations of the interaction phenomenon
considered only planar motion of the system (see refs.
[1 3], for example). The analysis was subsequently
extended by the present authors (ref. [4]) to the treat-
ment of general three-dimensional structures. However,
the theoretical solution to the problem has so far been
confined to single-structure configurations and the
coupling through the soil with adjacent structures has
not been considered. Essentially, this has necessitated
treating adjacent structures as separate systems which
do not influence one another, whereas, in reality, they
are coupled systems. Today, the increasing popularity
of twin-plant nuclear installations involving two or
more independent containment structures built on sep-
arate base slabs has made it necessary for engineers to
assess the effects of coupling between adjacent struc-
tures on the dynamic loads in nuclear reactors during
seismic disturbances.
In this paper, a general method of analysis will be
given for determining the dynamic response of a
group of flexible structures which are bonded, in close
proximity, to an elastic half-space and simultaneously
excited by the surface motion of the half-space. The
structures are simulated by discretized linear systems
which are allowed to be either similar or dissimilar, The
superstructures are mounted on separate base slabs
which are assumed to be rigid and of circular shape.
The bases are attached to the surface of the half-space
as shown in fig. 1.
The solution scheme essentially involves the com-
bination of the equations of motion of linear three-
dimensional elastic structures subjected to base ex-
citation with the dynamic response solution of an elas-
tic half-space whose boundary conditions involve
multiple surface regions. A rigorous treatment of the
problem was found to be extremely difficult, particu-
 TH. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through.soilcoupling in soil-structureinteraction
X2
XD
Fig. 1. Geometry and coordinate systems of theoretical model.
larly because of the complexity involved in obtaining
a solution of the second portion of the problem. Re-
cently, however, Warburton et al. [5] solved a forced
vibration problem involving two rigid masses attached
to the surface of an elastic half-space with one of the
masses being excited by an externally applied harmon-
ic force. They coupled the masses through the elastic
half-space by using the approximate method of Bycroft
[6, 7] in conjunction with its subsequent extension
made by Richardson [8]. Although the problem treat-
ed there was a somewhat simpler one differing con-
siderably from what is investigated in this paper, the
idea presented by those authors has suggested that the
approximate theory employed there may be further
developed to solve the more difficult problem considered
here. In the following, it will be shown how the governing
equations of motion for a coupled multistructure linear
system may be formulated by extending the methods
used in refs. [6-8] through the principle of superposi-
375
FLEXIBLE STRUCTURES
///(SYMMETRIC AND NONSYMM.)
">:7-, O.A
SG,E
~2
\ ELASTIC
HALF-SPACE
tion. This leads to partitioned matrix equations in
which the matrix order depends upon the number of
coupled structures in the system. Although the ideal-
ized models used for the example problems consist of
up to three structures, the general equations are deriv-
ed for a configuration involving an arbitrary number
of structures.
2. Theoretical development
Consider a group of flexible structures each having
a rigid circular base bonded to an elastic-half-space
with cartesian coordinate systems arranged as shown
in fig. 1. Let us initially confide our attention to a
single structure in that group. It will be assumed that
the modal data of the structure generated with its
base held fLxed are available. The model matrix and
its associated generalized coordinates are designated,
376 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction
respectively, as ff and q.
If externally applied forces are assumed absent [4],
the equations of motion for this single structure subject-
ed to a seismic disturbance may be written in the fol-
lowing form
Mq + Cdl + Kq= -- ~ ' 'B M d Ati b ,
(M b + A ' M d A ) ii b +A ' M d B ~ gt = f •
In the above equations, M, C and K are, respective-
ly, the generalized inertia, damping, and stiffness ma-
trices in the q coordinate system. A and B are the
transformations matrices in the kinematic equation for
the absolute velocities of the discrete mass points in the
superstructure [4], and u b is the base displacement
vector which has six elements corresponding to the
rigid-body degrees of freedom of this single structure.
The inertia matrix of the base associated with the rigid-
body motion is designated by M b. The symbol M d is
used to represent the diagonal mass matrix associated
with the kinetic energy of the superstructure. The com-
ponents of the vector f are the resultant forces and
moments at the surface of the base in contact with the
half-space. The dot and prime denote, respectively, the
time derivative and the transpose. Thus, the first ma-
trix equation indicates that the modal response of the
superstructure depends upon the motion of the base.
The second equation, on the other hand, denotes that
the dynamic feedback resulting from the rigid-body
motion of the entire structure as well as the modal re-
sponse of the superstructure must be in equilibrium
with the stress resultant at the interface.
Let it be further assumed that the equations of mo-
tion governing the response of the superstructure can
be decoupled so that M, C and K are all diagonal. For
harmonic excitation with a circular frequency w, eq.
(1 a) leads to the following equation which relates the
steady-state amplitude of q to that of//b
~= - ( l/co2)D~' B' Md A ~b ,
where the bar over a vector designates the complex am-
plitude and D is a diagonal matrix whose nth element
may be written in the form
(co/con)2
D =
n M n [1 (co/con)2+i2~n(co/con)]
Mn, ~n, and con are, respectively, the generalized mass,
the modal damping factor, and the natural frequency
(fixed-base) of the nth mode of the superstructure.
Making use of the relations #= - co2qe iwt and
U-b = - 6°2 U-b, the following interaction equation is
obtained after substituting eq. (2) into eq. (1 b)
(la)
6o2 (M b + A ' M d A + P ' D P ) ~ b = f , (4)
(lb)
where
P=q/ B'Md A . (5)
Eq. (4) is derived for a single structure and is there-
fore valid for each individual structure in that group
except that, at this stage, both Ub and f a r e unknown.
Furthermore, they are influenced by the motion of the
other structures nearby.
Rewriting eq. (4) with superscripts added as a means
of identifying the individual structures, the equation
for the ith structure reads
c°2 M(iI gB (z) _ ~ (0 = 0 (i=1,2 . . . . . N) , (6)
where
M (t) = (M b +A'MdA +P'DP) 0 (7)
To couple the N structures together through the
elastic half-space medium, the displacement amplitude
of the base is decomposed. Assuming that no slipping
exists at the structure-soil interface, u b can be expres-
sed in terms of three vectors by virtue of the principal
of superposition.
(O=~g(O+~(o+~-(o (i=1,2,...,N) , (8)
where ~g(h, ~-(0, and ~-(i) are displacement amplitudes
of the elastic half-space at the ith surface (the circular
region occupied by the ith structure). They are as-
sociated with the following sources:
g (0 = free-field displacement amplitude of earth-
(2) quake at the ith region;
(5 = displacement due to the presence of the ith
structure;
~-(0 = displacement due to the presence of other
structures away from the ith region.
Hereafter, the bar over the vector will be dropped
for simplicity. It will be understood that all vectors
(3) appearing in the remainder of the paper are complex
amplitudes unless otherwise noted.
 T.tt. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction 377

Through the use of the method developed in refs. structures are thus coupled through the elastic haiti
[7, 8], r~(0 and ~(0 can be related to the tractions at the space.
N surface regions occupied by the structures con- Once r/(0 is determined, the base response can be
sidered in the system. The traction resultants at a sur- found immediately by using the following equation
face region occupied by the lth structure are simply which is derived from eq. (8) in conjuction with eqs.
the components o f f 03 except that their directions are (9) and (10).
reversed because of the action-reaction relationship. N
Utilizing the results obtained in ref. [8], an influence ub(,(i)= Ug(i)+r/(O+ ~ F(iDsO3r/q)
matrix F(#) can be assembled which transforms the /(/'St')
traction resultants f(D to the displacement produced
at the ith region, namely
(i= 1 , 2 , . . ,N) . (12)
N
The transformation which gives the response of struc-
~(0= ~ F(O)fO , (9)
/qso tural masses in the ith structure in terms of the ith
base response is in ref. [4]
in which the effects from all the adjacent structures
(total number N - 1)have been summed. u~=(A+B@DP)(Ou~ ) (i= 1,2 . . . . . N ) , (13)
The ~(0 in this theory is determined from a single-
disk solution. Thus, the displacement ~(0 produced by where u ~ denotes the displacement amplitude of the
f(D does not give rise to surface tractions at the ith re- structural masses.
gion which is away f r o m f q3. Consequently, no surface When the general formulation is limited to a three-
traction is associated with ~ (0. Since Ug(0 is again a structure complex,N = 3 and eq. (1 l) results in a sys-
free-field displacement, the traction f(i)at the ith re- tem of 18 equations which may be put in a partitioned
gion is associated only with r~(0and may be expressed matrix form as
by a matrix equation.
Eu I = _ 6d2~lU g (14)
f(0 = S (0 ~?
(0 (i = 1,2, • • • , N) , (10)
where
in which S is often referred to as the dynamic stiffness. / ~7(i) u~l) \
matrix of the elastic half-space. Its elements have pre-
viously been computed by a number of investigators,
notably in the work of Bycroft [6, 7].
Since ~ (0 is generated from a single-disk solution, it uI = 7(2) ug = u(2)
g (15)
will not conform to the rigid-body displacement re-
quired by a circular base occupying the ith region so
that the approximate theory involves an averaging pro-
cedure and the elements in ~(0 represent the values of 7(3) u(3)
average displacements. g
Upon substituting eqs. (8) through (10) into eq. (6), and
i
N "oA2M(I ) + S (1) , ~2M0)F(I 2)S(2) ~o2/~l)F(13)S(3)
(~2MO +S(O)~O +co2MO ~ F(O)S(D n(1) I
i
iVs0 3_
i

E= co2M(2) F(21) S(1) iI~M

2 (2)+ (2)
S t~2M(2)F(23)S(3)
= - co2M (0 Ug (o (i= 1,2, . . . , N ) , (11) I
3_
I
which is seen to be a set of 6 X N simultaneous alge-
to2M(3) F(31) S(I ) [ co2M (3) F (32) S (2) I co2M (3) + S (3)
braic equations with unknowns ~1which can readily be
I I
solved when the earthquake motion is specified. The (16)
378 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction

The transient response of the coupled system sub-

jected to an arbitrary time function excitation was de-
termined by using the Fourier synthesis method which
can be efficiently handled by the Fast Fourier trans-
M(2) /
form algorithm. When the earthquake time-history is
1 Oi’ specified, one may form a 6 X 1 ground acceleration col-
--I--- ( umn matrix for each structure and denote it by xjl (t)
j M(3) (i= 1,2,3). Let the seismic input vector for the entire
1
system be defined as
Upon substituting eq. (12) into eq. ( 13), the struc-
tural response can be expressed in terms of the earth-
quake input after solving eq. (14). It can be shown that
the resulting matrix equation may be expressed as

u m=B(I-w2~E-1@~~ , (18)
(22)
where

then the time-history of the structural response is

u m- - .(2)
m (19) given by
i I
urn(f) = & s H(w)
1-I
eiWt dw
-cc
J3)
m

and the new matrices are defined as follows

I= identity matrix,
X
sug
_m
(7) e-iw7 & , (23)

where the vector urn (t), partitioned in the same way

as eq. (22), is the acceleration vector of all the struc-
tural masses. The complex frequency response matrix
H is defined as

& H(w)=z(I-w2FE-%) . (24)

!
fY’(31)s(‘) 1 (32)s(2)
IF
;
I
I 3. influence matrix and averaging technique

(A +Bqm)(‘) ; 0 / 0 The formation of the influence matrices consitutes

r a major portion of the computational effort required
~____~_~____~__~_.__~_~~~ in the analysis. The elements in these matrices are the
I influence functions which were computed from the
E= 0 1 (,4 ,B$DP)Q)’O (
~
,’
results obtained in the dynamic response solutions of
an elastic half-space excited by harmonic forces and
moments applied through a massless disk. As an ex-
ample illustrating the method used in constructing
3, these matrices, consider the arrangement as shown in
fig. 2 where the disk is assumed to be attached to the
(21)
 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soilcoupling in soil-structure interaction
/ whose numerical values for various combinations of r
d '~'l
Fig, 2, Surface regions on elastic half-space for constructing
influence matrices.
region 1. The excitation applied at region 1 produces
displacements on the free surface at regions 2 and 3.
When the displacements distributed over region 2 are
averaged, the elements in the influence matrix F (21)
are obtained.
A simplified averaging technique based on the dis-
placement values at a few discrete points was previous-
ly introduced in ref. [5]. The assumptions used there
are reasonable only when the distance between two
structures is large (i.e. d/r o >~ 10). Obviously, this
method is not accurate for analysis of a nuclear power
plant complex where the basic structures are normally
spaced in such way that 3 <<,d/ro ~< 5 is the range of in-
terest. For this reason, the averaging technique in the
present analysis has been refined so that the method
is also accurate for small separation distances.
The improvement was made by first representing the
displacements on the free surface by continuous func-
tions and then integrating them over a circular region.
Consider the case with tangential force, for example.
If the excitation at region 1 is in the X3 direction, then,
on the free surface, the displacement produced has
two components (radial and tangential), both being
continuous functions of the spatial variables r and 0.
In addition, these displacements vary continuously
with respect to the non-dimensional frequency factor
K = Wr(ol)/Vs, where r(1) is the base radius at region
379
1 and Vs is the shear wave velocity of half-space
medium. The radial and tangential displacements on
the free surface may be expressed as
u(r, K) sin 0 , v(r, K) cos 0 , (25)
where u(r, K) and v(r, K) are displacement amplitudes
and K have been previously computed by Richardson
[8]. These discrete values follow a definite pattern
which enables one to represent them by approximately
constructed continuous functions of the arguments
(r and K)through interpolation. It was found that these
functions may be conveniently expressed by finite
terms of a Fourier series in ~ with the Fourier coef-
ficients being polynomials in r. The average torsional
displacement 0 a at region 2, for instance, is then de-
termined by the integral
02 r2 (0)
0a= 7r [r12)]4 f rfl(o) rdrd~
X {u(r,K)d sin20 +v~r,K)cos 0 (d cos O - r ) } ,
(26)
where
02=+
01 _ sin -1 {r(o2)/d} (27)
r 2 (0) +
= d cos 0 {[r(o2)] 2 _ d 2 sin 2 O} } (28)
r 1 (0)
The six components of excitation applied at disk 1
produce a total of a4 averages displacements at region
2. These average displacements, each being a complex
number, are the elements in the F (21) matrix. The
F (12) matrix differs from F (21) only in some signs
changes. Making use of the coordinate rotation trans-
formation, the elements in F (31) (the average dis-
placements in region 3) can be readily computed
without changing the expressions of the averag-
ing integrals. This was accomplished by first comput-
ing the F (31) matrix with 13set equal to zero in the
same way as was done for F (21) and then transforming
this matrix in the following manner to obtain the de-
sired F (31) matrix for a non-zero angle j3 (see fig. 2)
F (31) = R ~F(31)R ' (29)
p o -'3 '
380 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction
Fig. 3. Idealized model for a three-structure complex.
where the elements in Fo(31) matrix are the average dis-
placements at region 3 calculated with/3 = 0 and RO is
the rotational transformation matrix which rotates the
local cartesian frame through an angle/3. Since/3 is
arbitrary, the method described above can be used to
compute all the influence matrices in eq. (1 1)for a
general N-structure system.
4. Model description
Although it is impracticable to investigate the ef-
fects of all the parameters on the response of the sys-
tem, some insight into the characteristics of the cou-
pling behavior was obtained by studying the numerical
results generated in some example problems based on
idealized structural models. Fig. 3 shows an idealized
three-structure model in which all the superstructures
are represented by single-mass oscillators. The reactor/
containment structures are simulated by two identical
structures (nos. 1 and 2), and a dissimilar structure (no. 3)
is added to the system in order to characterize the ef-
fects from the turbine building. Each structural mass is
allowed to have two components of lateral displace-
ment relative to its base. The spring stiffness values
associated with these lateral displacements are as-
sumed to be equal. Rotary inertias of the lumped
masses are neglected except for the base slabs. Each
individual structure is symmetric by itself though the
coupled problem may be nonsymmetric. Example
problems were solved using this model with and with-
out the presence of the third structure (turbine build-
ing).
Fig. 4 describes a two-structure system in which
the superstructures are represented by two identical
three-mode models. The containment structure is
idealized as a single-mass oscillator and the prestressed
concrete reactor vessel (PCRV) as a two-mass system.
In all the problems considered here, the spacing
between structures is assumed to be close enough that
the spatial variations of the earthquake motion may be
ignored and all the structures in the problem are as-
sumed to be subjected to the same seismic disturbance.
The use of the elastic half-space ensures the presence
of radiation damping in the system (energy dissipation
due to wave propagation away from the base slabs
toward infinity). In addition, a modal damping factor
of 0.05 was assumed for all structures throughout the
remainder of the paper. It should be pointed out, how-
ever, that the sense of the coupling effects was found
to be independent of the amount of damping in the
structure, such that a change made in the modal damp-
ing value only alters the magnitude of the response.
The gross behavior of a twin-plant nuclear power
station under seismic disturbances was investigated and
the numerical data pertinent to nuclear power plant
design are presented and discussed. The computations
were made with the computer code SOSDIT (soil--
structure dynamic interaction with through-soil
coupling).
5.1. Two-structure complex
For a first study of the coupling phenomenon, the
steady-state responses were computed for the model
shown in fig. 3 with the third structure omitted. The
direction of the harmonic earthquake motion was
taken parallel to the line joining the centers of the two
base slabs of structures 1 and 2. The dynamic response
of the structural mass in this problem was studied by
varying the significant parameters in the system. The
influence of the coupling effects on the structural re-
sponse was found to depend on the following four pa-
rameters: (1) shear wave velocity, Vs, of the elastic
 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soft-structure interaction 381

CASE I CASE II

d/r ° 3.0 4.5

mb 900,000 900,000 Vs = I000 FPS

mI 800,000 320,000
m2 1,500,000 600,000

mc 1,210,000 hO0,000

MASSUNIT: I b - s e c 2 - f t - I

5O
mb LI[! ~ 1 Y
120 ~!

Fig. 4. Idealized multi-mode model for a twin-plant nuclear power station.

half-space (soil stiffness parameter), (2) inertia of the

structures, (3) natural frequency of structures (struc- |
ture stiffness property) and (4) separation distance be- io
tween the structures. Graphical results displaying the 8
effects of varying these parameters are given in figs. 6
5-7. o
The lateral structural response in this problem is ~"
mb = 9 . 0 x 105 l b - s e c 2 - f t - ]
obviously in the same direction as the seismic motion
and both structures were found to have identical re-
~ i/[
~ Io
~ (b) Vs = lO00 FPS
mS 1.2 X
I06 i b _ s e c 2 _ f t _ I

sponse as expected. The lateral response attains a max- " ~ 4 0 coupled response
imum value at resonance. Curves were plotted in fig. unCOupled response

5 a - e for these peak values against those obtained by ~ -r , ~ , ~ , ~ ,

omitting the through-soil coupling. In each figure, the ~ o
variation of these maximum values is shown as a func- ~ lo
tion of the natural frequency (fixed base) of struc-
ture. An important characteristic behavior revealed in 8
this study is that the coupling effects tend to become o 2 4 6
adverse for relatively stiffer structures. Consider the 12[
case of a typical soil medium for example. When Vs = io ~ = 4000
1000 ft/sec (fig. 5b), the through-soil coupling reverses
its effect when the structure natural frequency is o ' ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ,~
I
greater than 2.5 Hz. For a stiffer soil medium with 12r (e) Vs = 6000FPS
Vs=2000 ft/sec (fig. 5(c)), the reversal of effects will
not occur until the natural frequency exceeds 5.0 Hz. ~oT I I
o ~ 6 ~ ,o
On rock foundation (fig. 5d and e), favorable effects NATURAL FREQUENCYOF SUPERSTRUCTURE, Hz
from the coupling are indicated throughout the de-
sign range of the reactor fundamental frequency. As Fig. 5. Curves of maximum response for a two-structure mod-
expected, the coupling phenomenon diminishes as the el under unit harmonic excitations (l g amplitude).
 382 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil structure interaction
d B
~ E
~ 4
m b - 9.
m s : 1,2 x I0 6 Ib-sec2-ft "I
Fig. 6. Surfaces of maximum response for a two-structure
model under unit harmonic excitation (relatively light-
weight structure),
ground medium stiffness becomes infinitely large.
The foregoing analysis was made with a fixed sep-
aration distance parameter ( d / r o = 4). Changing this
parameter will alter the characteristics. The dependence
of through-soil coupling effects on the two most
significant parameters, natural frequency o f structure
and separation distance, may be displayed in one
diagram by plotting a response surface. The maximum
response surfaces for a case on firm soil are shown in
fig. 6. In this case, the soil parameter and the mass
values of the system are held fixed. A point on the re-
sponse surface corresponds to the value of the peak re-
sponse at resonance. The shaded surface, which was
plotted for the uncoupled system, is independent of
the separation distance. The peak response values com-
puted for the coupled system form a surface which is
shown unshaded. Clearly, the region where the cou-
pling gives adverse effects is the region where the un-
shaded surface appears above the shaded one. For in-
stance, if the natural frequency of the structure is 3.0 Hz,
then the through-soil coupling effects in this problem
are favorable at d / r o = 3.0 and unfavorable at d / r o =
4.5. The behavior described here was found to be sen-
sitive to the variation in structural inertia. Fig. 7 shows
the same set of characteristic surfaces obtained by
using a larger value of structural mass. An increase in
UNCOUPLE
L~
~10 ''
I0 lb-$ec - t
106 Ib-sec2"ft-I
Fig. 7. Surface of maximum response for a two-structure
model under unit harmonic excitation (relatively heavy
structure).
the structural inertia is seen to have the tendency of
widening the gap between the two surfaces such that
the adverse region is greatly reduced.
When the structures are multi-mode, the coupling
phenomenon becomes rather involved. However, the
essential coupling behavior of some simple structures
having multiple degrees of freedom can still be pre-
dicted by making use of the characteristic informa-
tion presented above. Consider, for instance, the sim-
plified twin-plant model as shown in fig. 4 where the
PCRV/containment structures are represented by
three-mass models. Again, the system is assumed to
be founded on soil with Vs -- 1000 ft/sec. The super-
structure natural frequencies are assumed to have the
following fixed distribution:
[ 1.20 Hz (1 st mode)
Two-mass PCRV /
~3.30 Hz (2nd mode)
Containment vessel 5.0 Hz
The response of the system was studied by varying the
structural mass values and the separation distance. Two
 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction 383

6
CASE cases were investigated and compared (see fig. 4 for
parameters used).
The through-soil coupling effects were found to re-
4 duce the response of the PCRV masses in both cases.
Eu
The effect on the containment vessel mass was to
lower the response in case I but to increase it in case
II. Fig. 8 shows the steady-state frequency-response
diagrams of the containment mass plotted for the two
0
cases. The sense reversal of coupling effects is visible
at the major peaks. The transient response showed
,~ CASE
z
,,
corresponding changes. The acceleration history of
6 / , the containment vessel mass under a 1940 El Centro
,
type earthquake is displayed in figs. 9 and 10. It is in-
teresting to note that the phenomena just described
are consistent with the behavior of those characteristic
surfaces exhibited in figs. 6 and 7.

5.2. Three-structure complex

To show how the seismic responses in the foregoing

I 2
EXCITATIOII FREQUENCY, Hz
Fig. 8. Comparison study on the frequency-response charac-
teristics of containment vessel mass.
3 4
analysis are perturbed by the presence of a third struc-
ture, computations were also made for the three-struc-
ture model shown in fig. 3. For simplicity, the location
of the third structure was chosen in such way that the

CASE I
+.4

i I
i i

0 1

E'u +.2

u.
o

o
=

0
ua
ua
c_)

ua -.2

...... COUPLED
-.4
UNCOUPLED

I I I I I I I I I
0 2 4 6 8
TIME, SECONDS

Fig. 9. Time history of containment vessel mass response under E1 Centro type earthquakes (case I).
384 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction

$1
iJ

CASE II
+.6

+.4

,'I
il I i
II I I
+.2
g
t5 , 'i
o A ..,St, al~,,-~,,I
,-,

oc

-.2
7 i J
t;
r
i
tJ ',j

. . . . . . COUPLED
-.4 -t
UNCOUPLED

t"
I I I I I I [
2 4 6
TIME, SECO;4DS

Fig. ] 0 . T i m e h i s t o r y o f c o n t a i n m e n t vessel mass response u n d e r E l C e n t r o e a r t h q u a k e (case I l L

lines joining the centers of the bases form an equilat-
eral triangle. The third structure was assumed to be re-
latively lightweight as compared to structures 1 and 2.
All structures were assumed to have the same natural
frequency of 3.0 Hz, and earthquake excitations in
two different directions were considered in this portion
of the study.
The displacement patterns of the structural masses
as viewed from top are shown in fig. 11 where the
nonsymmetric and symmetric problems investigated
are labeled as A and B, respectively. In each case both
in-phase and out-of-phase motion patterns are displayed.
The predominant displacement component of the masses
is naturally in the same direction as the earthquake. The
two identical structures (1 and 2)also undergo a small
amount of translational displacement perpendicular
to that of the earthquake. Although not shown in the
present results, some vertical displacements were also
observed, and the base slabs of the two identical struc-
tures exhibit rotations about three axes. The displace-
ment components perpendicular to the direction of
seismic motion are, of course, of relatively small mag-,
nitude.
The frequency-response diagrams for this system
are presented in figs. 12 and 13. In this example pro-
blem, the response of structures 1 and 2 representing
the PCRV/containment system was greatly reduced
by the coupling effect. The response of the turbine
building (simulated by structure no. 3) on the other
hand, exhibits only a small reduction. Structure no. 3
experiences relatively larger reduction in case B than
in case A, however. This occurred principally because,
in the former case, the effects from structures 1 and 2
felt by the third structure are additive whereas in the
lattter some of these effects are subtractive. Also, the
resonance frequency for the identical structures was
found to be slightly higher in case A. Another inter-
esting phenomenon revealed when all three structures
 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction 385

¢~.',
CASE B
¢o . 1.246 Hz
2"n"
---~ - I. lo ,z ~'~:J~"
2~
,,'-'v-,/
/ \
,.-,-~ y --.,-.-

E<] >w
i" ~ ' ~

S
2"n"
= 1.466 Hz UI]Z]~,,t,,t
~ ",,Z ~,'
1~4 ( ~ ~27r " 1.392 Hz

// \\\
\ J

- ~ v~-,'
"l,d L,
~"

Fig. 11. Displacement patterns for an idealized three-structure model (dotted figures represent the exaggerated displaced configu-
rations).

are coupled is the appearance of new dips in the fre-
quency-response diagrams. The dipping for structures
1 and 2 occurs at the frequency where structure 3 at-
tains its maximum response and vice versa, and in
many respects is similar to the phenomena of the
tuned-mass vibration damper with the exception that
the radiation damping limits the response of struc-
ture 3 to acceptable levels.
6. Conclusions
A method has been presented which allows the
treatment of through-soil coupling effects on the dy-
namic response of adjacent structures subjected to
seismic excitation. Although the results presented are
for highly simplified structures, the method is appli-
cable to essentially any structure-foundation system
which can be modeled within the limitations of linear
theory. Although not normally considered in seismic
analysis, the results of the simplified parametric study
conducted indicate that through-soil coupling can
significantly alter the dynamic response of a wide
range of building types. These effects are particularly
pronounced for massive structures such as nuclear
reactor power stations. The magnitude of the cou-
pling is greater for structures founded on media other
than very hard rock. In general, the coupling effects
are relatively unimportant in nuclear power plant de-
sign when the soil modulus is in the range of
E > 1.0 X 10 5 psi.
Depending on local site parameters, modifications
in the dynamic response of the various primary struc-
tures of sufficient magnitude to effect plant design
load criteria are indicated. This is particularly true in
zones of high seismic activity where proper layout of
twin plant complexes can lead to load reductions which
are not inconsequential. Conversely, improper plant lay-
386 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction

I0
q) OR@ STRUCTURE(D OR@

Y
~6 O@ Y
g
UNCOUPLED

o
..... COUPLED
g
~ 4 g ONLY I AND
• 2 COUPLED
E
z
2 z
z
g

0 , I _ _ .1 , I a I , ~

STRUCTUREO STRUCTURE
I Vs = I000 FPS ]
8 I
I d/r° = 3.0
mb 9.0 x 105 FOR ALl g
I! THPARAMETERSSAME AS
g 6 ms = 3.0 x 106 OSE IN CASE A
o
(FOR I AND 2)
o=
= 1 . 0 x 106
(FOR 3)
.~ 4
e~

I I
,j
0 u L i |
0 1.0 2.0 3.0 I.O 2.0 3.0
EXCITATION FREQUENCY, H z EXCITATION FREQUENCY, Hz
Fig. 12. Frequency-reponse diagrams for a three-struc- Fig. 13. F r e q u e n c y - r e s p o n s e diagrams for a three-struc-
ture complex (case A). ture complex (case B).

out can result in dynamic response levels in excess of q, q, q = generalized modal coordinate for
those predicted considering the individual structures superstructure and its time deri-
as independent systems. vatives,
= modal matrix of superstructure
generated with the base held
Nomenclature fixed,
M, C, K = generalized mass, damping, and
A,B = transformation matrices in kine- stiffness matrices for superstruc-
matic equation for structural ture in the generalized (q) coor-
masses, dinate system,
Md = diagonal mass matrix associated Ub,//b = column matrix for base displace-
with the kinetic energy of super- ment and its second time deriva-
structure, tive,
Mb = mass matrix for base slab, D = diagonal matrix for modal ampli-
f = column matrix of resultant forces fication,
and moments at bottom of base, co = circular frequency of excitation,
 T.H. Lee, D.A. Wesley, Through-soil coupling in soil-structure interaction
= natural frequency and modal
damping factor of the n t h mode,
Dn , Mn = n t h element in the diagonal ma-
triceslD and M, respectively,
i = ( - 1 ) ~ , when not used asan index,
(i), (ij) = superscripts enclosed in brackets,
for identification of structures,
N = total number of coupled struc-
tures,
Ug = free-field displacement of earth-
quake,
= surface displacements of elastic
half-space,
F(O) = influence matrix which relates
the surface displacements at re-
gion occupied by the ith structure
to the excitation applied at region
occupied by the ]th structure,
S(l)
= dynamic stiffness matrix for the
surface region occupied by the
ith structure,
r = base radius,
o
Vs =(#/p)~ shear wave velocity of
elastic half-space,
= density and shear modulus of the
elastic half-space,
g = ~Oro/Vs dimensionless frequency
factor,
d = separation distance,
r,O = radial and angular coordinates,
= angle defined in fig. 2,
R# = rotational transformation matrix
associated with angle/3,
= absolute displacement of struc-
Um
tural masses,
ug, Um , UI, Ug, U m = partitioned column matrices of
387
displacement for the entire cou-
pled system,
H(oa) = complex frequency-response ma-
trix,
Xl, x2, x3 = coordinate directions in inertial
cartesian frame,
Xl,X2, x 3 = coordinate directions in local
cartesian frame,
m s, m b = structural mass and base mass, re-
spectively,
q-, fib, etc. = a bar over the vector designates
complex amplitude.
References
[ 1] R.A. Parmelee, Building-Foundation Interaction Effects,
3". Engin. Mechan. Div., ASCE, EM2, (1967), 131-151.
[2] J.E. Luco, Dynamic Interactions of a Shear Wall with the
Soil, J. Engin. Mechan. Div., ASCE, EM2, (1969)
333-346.
[3] R.J. Scavuzzo, J.L. Bailey and D.D. Raftopoulos, Lateral
Structure Interactions with Seismic Waves,Z Appl. Mech.,
38, 1 (1971) 125.
[4] T.H. Lee and D.A. Wesley, Soil-structure Interaction of
Reactor Structures Subjected to Seismic Excitation, Gulf
General Atomic Report No. GA-10628, pres. at the First Inter.
Conf. Struct. Mechan. in Reactor Technol. Berlin, Ger-
many, September 1971, proceedings to appear.
[5] G.B. Warburton, JoD. Richardson, and J.J. Webster,
Forced Vibrations of Two Masses on an Elastic Half Space,
J. AppL Mech., 38, 1 (1971) 148-156.
[6] G.N. Bycroft, Forced Vibrations of a Rigid Circular Plate
on a Semi-Infinite Elastic Space and on an Elastic Stratum,
Philos. Trans., Royal Soc. (London), 248, (1956)A948.
[7] R.N. Arnold, G.N. Bycroft, and G.B. Warburton, Forced
Vibration of a Body on an infinite Elastic Solid, J. AppL
Mech., 22, Trans. ASME, 77 (1955) 391-400.
[8] J.D. Richardson, Forced Vibrations of Rigid Bodies on
Semi-Infinite Elastic Medium, Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Not-
tingham, U.K., 1969.