DESIGN CONCEPTS OF

SUBSTRUCTURES .
BY
MOHITH S REDDY
20MTRSE003
SOIL STRCTURE INTERACTION EFFECT
 Most of the civil engineering structures involve some type of structural element with direct contact with
ground. When the external forces, such as earthquakes , act on these systems, neither the structural
displacements nor the ground displacements, are independent of each other. The process in which the response
of the soil influences the motion of the structure and the motion of the structure influences the response of the
soil is termed as soil-structure interaction (SSI).
 Ground–structure interaction (SSI) consists of the interaction between soil (ground) and a structure built
upon it. It is primarily an exchange of mutual stress, whereby the movement of the ground-structure system is
influenced by both the type of ground and the type of structure.
 This is especially applicable to areas of seismic activity.
 Various combinations of soil and structure can either amplify or diminish movement and subsequent damage.
A building on stiff ground rather than deformable ground will tend to suffer greater damage.
 Conventional structural design methods neglect the SSI effects. Neglecting SSI is reasonable for light
structures in relatively stiff soil such as low rise buildings and simple rigid retaining walls. The effect of SSI,
however, becomes prominent for heavy structures resting on relatively soft soils for example nuclear power
plants, high-rise buildings and elevated-highways on soft soil.
 Effect of SSI

 It is conventionally believed that SSI is a purely beneficial effect, and it can conveniently be
neglected for conservative design. SSI provisions of seismic design codes are optional and allow
designers to reduce the design base shear of buildings by considering soil-structure interaction (SSI)
as a beneficial effect.
 The main idea behind the provisions is that the soil-structure system can be replaced with an
equivalent fixed-base model with a longer period and usually a larger damping ratio.
 Damage sustained in recent earthquakes, such as the 1995 Kobe earthquake, have also
highlighted that the seismic behavior of a structure is highly influenced not only by the
response of the superstructure, but also by the response of the foundation and the ground as
well. 
 Hence, the modern seismic design codes, such as Standard Specifications for Concrete
Structures:
 Seismic Performance Verification JSCE 2005  stipulate that the response analysis should be
conducted by taking into consideration a whole structural system including superstructure,
foundation and ground.
Detrimental effects

 When a structure is subjected to an earthquake excitation, it interacts with the

foundation and the soil, and thus changes the motion of the ground.
 Soil-structure interaction broadly can be divided into two phenomena:
a) kinematic interaction and
b) inertial interaction.
  Earthquake ground motion causes soil displacement known as free-field motion.
However, the foundation embedded into the soil will not follow the free field motion.
This inability of the foundation to match the free field motion causes the kinematic
 interaction. At low level of ground shaking, kinematic effect is more dominant causing
the lengthening of period and increase in radiation damping.
 On the other hand, the mass of the superstructure transmits the inertial force to the
soil, causing further deformation in the soil, which is termed as inertial interaction.
DESIGN

 The main types of foundations, based upon several building characteristics, are:
 Isolated plinths (currently not feasible)
 Plinths connected by foundations beams
 Reverse beams
 A plate (used for low-quality grounds)

 The filing of foundations grounds takes place according to the mechanical properties of the grounds
themselves:
 Category A: homogeneous rock formations
 Category B: compact granular or clayey soil
 Category C: quite compact granular or clayey soil
 Category D: not much compact granular or clayey soil
 Category E: alluvial surface layer grounds (very low quality soil)
The type of foundations is selected according to the type of ground; for instance, in the case of homogeneous
rock formations connected plinths are selected, while in the case of very low quality grounds plates are
chosen.

 Bothgrounds and structures can be more or less deformable; their combination can or cannot cause the  amplification of the 
seismic effects on the structure. Ground, in fact, is a filter with respect to all the main seismic waves, as stiffer soil fosters
high-frequency seismic waves while less compact soil accommodates lower frequency waves. Therefore, a stiff building,
characterized by a high fundamental frequency, suffers amplified damage when built on stiff ground and then subjected to
higher frequencies.
 For instance, suppose there are two buildings that share the same high stiffness. They stand on two different soil types: the
first, stiff and rocky—the second, sandy and deformable. If subjected to the same seismic event, the building on the stiff
ground suffers greater damage.
 The second interaction effect, tied to mechanical properties of soil, is about the lowering (sinking) of foundations, worsened
by the seismic event itself, especially about less compact grounds. This phenomenon is called soil liquefaction.
Mitigation
 The most diffused techniques are
  jet grouting technique
 the pile work technique.
 The jet-grouting technique consists of injecting in the subsoilsome liquid concrete by means of a drill. When
this concrete hardens it forms a sort of column that consolidates the surrounding soil. This process is
repeated on all areas of the structure.
 The pile work technique consists of using piles, which, once inserted in the ground, support the foundation
and the building above, by moving the loads or the weights towards soil layers that are deeper and therefore
more compact and movement-resistant.
BASEMENT SLAB

 A slab basement is the simplest building foundation. In essence, it is a slab of concrete

placed directly onto the ground. It also acts as the floor of the basement. Around the
outside of the slab, the concrete forms a 2- to 3-foot deep beam that supports the rest of
the house being built above.