الفهرس 
Literature ReviewOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
An important part of engineering applications is the analysis and prediction of the dynamic behaviour of structures. The analysis of the response of structures under dynamic loads is a difficult work, especially if the response is nonlinear. The nonlinear dynamic response analysis of structural dynamic problems requires the solution of structural dynamic equations of motion. The exact solution for this kind of problems is very complex, analytical solutions being available only for very special cases. For more general and complex cases, especially with regard to seismic loading, efficient numerical methods are used to solve the governing equations of motion. The coupled effect of the supporting soil flexibility and pounding between neighbouring, insufficiently separated equal height buildings under earthquake excitation are investigated in the thesis. Two adjacent structures, modelled as inelastic lumped mass systems with different structural characteristics, have been considered in the study. The models have been excited using a suit of ground motions with different Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) and recorded at different soil types. A nonlinear viscoelastic pounding force model has been employed in order to effectively capture impact forces during collisions. Spring-dashpot elements have been incorporated to simulate the horizontal and rotational movements of the supporting soil. The results of the numerical simulations, in the form of the structural nonlinear responses as well as the time-histories of energy dissipated during Pounding-involved vibrations are presented in the thesis. In addition, the variation in storeys peak responses and peak dissipated energies for different gap sizes are also shown and comparisons are made with the results obtained for colliding buildings with fixed-base supports. Observations regarding the incorporation of the soil-structure interaction and its effect on the responses obtained are discussed.