Influence of vertical ground motion on seismic-induced displacements of gravity structures

A method enabling assessment of seismic-induced movements of gravity block is proposed. This method is based on dynamic analysis of the block subjected to both horizontal and vertical ground accelerations, and resultant forces acting on the block. There are two kinds of the motion. The first one is trivial, as it is a common motion of the block and subsoil. The second is a relative motion of the block with respect to subsoil, depending on combination of ground accelerations and the resultant of horizontal forces. Attention is focused on the influence of vertical ground motion on seismic-induced displacements of the structure. Experimental investigations performed in order to validate a numerical algorithm are described, and then experimental data are compared with numerical predictions. A good agreement is obtained. Then, the dynamics analysis of the block is presented for harmonic and pseudo-stochastic ground motions in order to illustrate the algorithm proposed. The results of computations show that, for some typical data and ground accelerations corresponding to strong earthquakes, large permanent displacements of the block take place, as observed in real conditions.