Asian Journal of Civil Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-023-00844-6

RESEARCH

Evaluation of SSI impact on the structural performance of RC buildings

Pandimani1 · Tanikonda Siva Sankar2 · B. P. R. V. S. Priyatham1 · B. A. V. Ramkumar1

Received: 16 July 2023 / Accepted: 19 July 2023

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

Abstract
The performance of RC multistory buildings is significantly influenced by the relationship of soil structure under lateral
forces. The vulnerability of foundation soil to seismic vibration or wind force on the superstructure is typically overlooked
in the structural design. This study examines the responses of a multi-storey RC building on the soil-superstructure interac-
tion (SSI) effect under the impact of wind and seismic forces. This study adapts the linear Winkler foundation model for
the subsurface soil with medium soil and clay soil, which is idealized by a spring system to analyze the SSI effect. The self-
weight, wind, imposed, and EQ loads are used as the design forces in the ETABS software to carry out the 3-D simulation.
The IS 1893:2016 and IS 875:2015 code provisions are used to carry out the EL and WL analyses. In this study, the structural
performance of buildings is analyzed for base shear, drift ratio, time-period, and storey displacement. The maximum displace-
ment for the SSIE-clay model has increased by 25.13 and 15.60 percent under earthquake forces compared to the FBE and
SSIE-medium soil models. The fundamental period for building rests in medium soil and fixed bases models under EQ forces
decreased by 15.63 and 10.36 percent when compared to the clay base model. In comparison to the FBW model under WL
analysis, the maximum base shear of the FBE model under EQ analysis exhibits a 35.38 percent increment. When compared
to earthquake forces, this study’s findings show that the behavior of buildings with SSI is less vulnerable to wind forces.

Keywords  Base shear · Fundamental period · Soil-structure interaction · Storey displacement · Storey drift · Fixed and
flexible bases

Abbreviations Vb Base shear

SSI Soil-structure interaction W Total weight of the building
EQ Earthquake Wi Weight of an ith floor
WL Wind load hi Height of ith floor
DL Dead load Qi Horizontal force in ith floor
IL Imposed load MRF Moment resisting frame
IS Indian standard SSIE SSI under earthquake load
ETABS Extended 3D analysis of buildings system SSIW SSI under wind load
Ah Design lateral seismic coefficient FB Fixed base model
Sa/g Acceleration coefficient
Z Seismic zone factor
R Response reduction factor Introduction
I Importance factor
The foundation-soil-superstructure system is composed of
a superstructure frame, a foundation that supports it, and
* Pandimani the soil medium. An SSI behavior is a collection of events
mani.p@gmrit.edu.in that includes both the superstructure’s response to the soil’s
1
flexibility beneath the foundation and the soil’s response to
Department of Civil Engineering, GMR Institute
of Technology, Vizianagram District, Rajam,
the superstructure (Dutta et al., 2004; Li et al., 2014). Under
Andhra Pradesh 532127, India relatively soft soil, it makes a major difference in how the
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Gudlavalleru
soil medium, foundation, and superstructure react dynami-
Engineering College, Krishna District, Vijayawada, cally. Seismic waves are created during the EQ motion and
Andhra Pradesh 521356, India

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