Substructuring for Soil Structure Interaction Using a Shaking Table

Abstract

The experimental investigation of soil-structure interaction (SSI) phenomena is typically performed on a shaking table with a model foundation-structure system embedded in a soil container. As the size and power of the shaking table limits the size of the specimen, only small scale models can be tested using this method. Novel structural testing methods to overcome such restrictions have been developed. The substructuring test methodology requires only an unpredictable subcomponent of the test system to be present in the laboratory, the remainder being confined to a linked numerical model that runs simultaneously. This chapter considers two potential applications of substructuring to shaking table SSI studies. In the first, the soil-foundation system is modeled numerically, the superstructure physically. The second is the inverse problem with the superstructure modeled numerically, the soil-foundation system physically. Tests and simulations are used to reveal that the prevalent substructuring controllers can not compensate for the dynamics of shaking tables. In response, a new model-based control strategy called Full-State Compensation via Simulation (FSCS) is developed that offers an improved performance. With the shaking table dynamics adequately compensated, substructuring test results are shown to align with the results from an entirely physical SSI test, verifying substructuring test methods for shaking table SSI applications.