Effects of Inclination of Longitudinal and Vertical Acceleration Components of Near-Field Earthquake Records on Seismic Responses of Pile Foundation-Superstructure Systems in Liquefiable Soil Bed.

The inclination angle of such components with respect to the principal orthogonal axes cannot be neglected in the direct seismic analysis of soil-foundation-superstructure systems, specifically in a piled liquefiable soil bed. This study validated numerical simulations and numerically modeled a concrete moment frame on a pile foundation within a liquefiable soil bed. The direct seismic analysis of the superstructure-foundation-soil system was carried out in a single step (through nonlinear dynamic time-history analysis) under longitudinal and vertical near-field seismic acceleration component records. The effects of the inclination of longitudinal and vertical acceleration components on the seismic responses of the soil-foundation-superstructure system in the liquefiable soil bed were explored, evaluating the critical inclination based on the near-field earthquake magnitude. It was observed that the simultaneous application of longitudinal and vertical near-field seismic acceleration components substantially changed the liquefiable soil bed drift of the pile foundation-superstructure system, significantly altering r u in depth, particularly in the middle of the pile depth. The change in r u and its effects on the seismic responses of the superstructure and piles (interstory drift and pile shear force and bending moment) were different upon a 30° change (rotation) in the acceleration records from 0 to 90° with respect to the orthogonal principal axes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]