The effect of soil-structure interaction on seismometer readings

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Abstract
Rocking and vertical and horizontal translations of typical “free-field” seismometer installations lead to magnification of the ground motion record. This magnification can be significant for the higher frequency components if the terrain has a relatively low shear-wave velocity. Seismometers placed on foundations which cover a significant part of a wavelength of a horizontally incident wave, experience an attenuated ground motion. A method of correcting the seismograms for these effects is given. Compliance functions for a rigid sphere in a full elastic space are derived and are used to show that, in practical cases, down-hole seismometer installations are not significantly affected by interaction. These compliance functions should be useful in discussing the soil structure interaction of structures erected on bulbous piles. They may be also used as the basis of a method of determining elastic constants of ground at depth, in situ, and at different frequencies.

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