Abstract Summary
The reinforcement technique with rigid inclusions is a practical, economical, and time-saving foundation solution. This technique has been already utilised with success to support structures undergoing high seismic demands, e.g., the Rion-Antirion bridge in Greece. In a performance-based design approach, the dynamic soil-structure interaction is an important phenomenon that should be considered. Direct approaches simulating the whole soil-structure system within the same FE or FD model are still computationally expensive and the classic modal response spectrum analyses, based on the superposition principle, are not capable to take into account most of nonlinear mechanisms. Therefore, the macro-element approach, that allows to model non-linear SSI mechanisms at the base of the structure without increasing the numerical cost, is a promising method showing especially good performance in the dynamic analysis of shallow and piled foundations. In a macro-element model, the behaviour of a foundation is entirely described at the foundation centre at a macro-scale by means of a set of generalised variables: force (moment) and displacement (rotation). The non-linearities of the soil and at the soil-foundation interface are generally reproduced within the framework of the plasticity theory. This paper aims to extend the application of the macro-element approach to inclusion reinforced foundations. The dynamic soil-structure interaction effects on several typical structures are investigated using a 3D non-linear model with a macro-element. The work is a part of the ASIRI+ French National Project.
