Effects of soil-structure interaction on the seismic response of integral bridges

In this paper, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of soil-structure interaction on the seismic response of integral bridges. The study includes six interaction scenarios applied to a four-span integral reinforced concrete bridge. These scenarios are selected such that they capture common boundary conditions of pile foundations supported on sandy soil. Nonlinear springs have been utilized to represent the reaction of soil on abutments and foundation of piers. Adaptive pushover analysis is carried out for the assessment of the bridge seismic response. Numerical results indicate that considering soil-structure interaction can considerably change the displacement demand of the bridge. The total base shear, on the other hand, is generally reduced when the soil-structure interaction is included in the analysis. Therefore, the effect of soil-structure interaction should be carefully modeled and included in the seismic assessment procedure in order to achieve realistic and accurate evaluation of integral bridges.