Multi-platform earthquake analysis of geotechnical-structural systems

Inelastic dynamic analysis of interacting soil and structure system up to failure poses very considerable challenges to a number of engineering sub-disciplines as well as information technology. Software platforms that offer reliable geotechnical material models do not have suitable structural models and vice versa. Provisions for uncertainty modeling in system characteristics and input motion, to quantify uncertainty in earthquake safety assessment, requires hundreds or even thousands of large, complex and computationally demanding analyses. The lack of a universally-capable framework for geotechnical and structural interacting systems is also a feature of experimental testing. No single laboratory has the range of equipment to test soil and structure and certainly no space to test even a medium length bridge or a medium height building. This paper presents a framework for the computational and hybrid computational-experimental investigation of complex structures, their foundations and underlying soil, when subject to earthquake strong ground motion. Emphasis is placed on the computational structure developed for multi-platform inelastic earthquake analysis of complex multi-physics systems. The framework comprises a central integrator and satellite components. The simplicity and transparency of the approach used lend themselves to fast implementation by research groups, and facilitate adding any number of analytical platforms. Reference application of the approach to seismic assessment of interaction problems is given.