Seismic Analysis of Structures With Coulomb Friction

Abstract

A modal superposition method for the dynamic analysis of a structure with Coulomb friction is presented. The finite element method is used to derive the equations of motion, and the nonlinearities due to friction are represented by pseudo-force vector. A structure standing freely on the ground may slide during a seismic event. The relative displacement response may be divided into two parts: elastic deformation and rigid body motion. The presence of rigid body motion necessitates the inclusion of the higher modes in the transient analysis. Three single degree-of-freedom problems are solved to verify this method. In a fourth problem, the dynamic response of a platform standing freely on the ground is analyzed during a seismic event.