Evaluation of seismic behavior of soils under nuclear containment structures via dynamic centrifuge test

Abstract

To evaluate the earthquake loads for the seismic design of a nuclear containment structure, it is necessary to consider the soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) due to their interdependent behavior. Especially, understanding the effects of soil stiffness under the structure and the location of control motion to SFSI are very important. Motivated by these requirements, a series of dynamic centrifuge tests were performed with various soil conditions from loose sand to weathered rock (WR), as well as different seismic intensities for the bedrock motion. The different amplification characteristics in peak-accelerations profile and effects of soil-nonlinearity in response spectrum were observed. The dynamic behaviors were compared between surface of free-field and foundation of the structure for the evaluation of the control motion for seismic design. It was found that dynamic centrifuge test has potentials to estimate the seismic load considering SFSI.