Abstract
A numerical approach to analyse pounding responses of adjacent buildings on subsoil to earthquakes is presented. The nonlinear calculation of the soil-structure system is performed subsequently in the Laplace and the time domain. The adjacent buildings and the subsoil are described by finite elements and boundary elements, respectively. In the numerical investigation the effect of Kobe, Northridge and Chi-Chi near-source earthquakes is considered. The result reveals that both the subsoil and long-period pulses in the ground motions can increase the pounding potential of buildings. In addition, poundings can amplify the induced floor vibrations. In contrast, soil-structure interaction has reduction effect on the induced vibrations. In order to estimate the distance required to prevent pounding the influence of the soil-structure interaction is significant.
