Effect of soil depth on inelastic seismic response of structures

•Effect of soil depth on inelastic response of three typical structures.•Elastic and inelastic response spectra.•Site amplification factors and displacement modification factors.•Adequacy of the site amplification models of the current design codes.

Effect of depth of soil stratum on estimated inelastic displacement of three typical structures, viz. a four storey building, a continuous bridge, and a tower, is studied and adequacy of the site amplification models of the current design codes and available empirical relationships is examined. The structures are assumed to be located on well-defined sites with varying bedrock depths, and effect of depth on elastic response spectrum, site amplification factor, displacement modification factor and inelastic displacement is studied, numerically, for two values of PGA. It is observed that soil depth has a significant effect on elastic as well as inelastic response of the structures; however, the effect of soil amplification on inelastic response is not as pronounced as in case of elastic response. Therefore, use of empirical site amplification models based on elastic response may be too conservative, for estimating inelastic response.