On the non-linear stiffness of the soil-structure interaction of historical buildings

Any integrated structural analysis, especially under seismic loading, requires a suitable understanding and modelling of the soil-structure interaction. Recent developments in modelling soil-foundation behaviour aim at capturing the entire behaviour of a foundation in terms of the combined forces on it and their resultant displacements (known as ‘force-resultant’ modelling). Highly non-linear features can be thus relatively easily introduced, like soil hardening, creep (time dependent response) as well as dumping effects, in relation to cyclic and seismic loading. The formulation and use of such macro-element modelling (MEM) is herein briefly recalled, together with its relevant implications on the analysis of historical buildings, with special emphasis on tall and slender structures where second-order effects cannot be neglected.