Role of Soil–Structure Interaction on the Response of Precast RC Structures under Seismic Loading: Case Study

Considering soil–structure interaction in structural modeling often plays an important role in the seismic design or retrofitting of buildings. In the present paper, soil–structure inertial interaction is analyzed with reference to a single-story precast frame concrete structure (typical of industrial buildings) founded on isolated footings. The analysis was carried out within the framework of a dynamic impedance method. Emphasis was placed on the application of such a method, originally conceived for the case of harmonic vibration in machine massive foundations, in seismic loading. The effects of considering the deformability of foundation soil in the seismic performances of the building are discussed. The adopted method sheds light on the potentialities of applying routine analyses to a great number of similar existing structures that need to be reinforced because they are located in regions of high seismic hazard.