Field‐Testing of Structure on Shallow Foundation to Evaluate Soil‐Structure Interaction Effects

A simple test structure was designed and constructed to facilitate forced‐vibration testing of a shallow foundation experiencing combined base shear and moment demands. The structure consists of a reinforced concrete foundation and top slab separated by steel columns that can be configured with braces. The slabs have a 2:1 aspect ratio in plan view to facilitate variable amount of overturning for shaking in orthogonal directions. The structure was transported to two field sites with representative shear‐wave velocities of approximately V S = 95 m/s and 190 m/s. At each site, the foundation slab was cast‐in‐place. Forced vibration testing was conducted over a wide range of frequencies and load levels to enable the evaluation of foundation‐soil stiffness and damping behavior for linear and nonlinear conditions. The data collected to facilitate such analyses include acceleration, displacement, and foundation pressure records (data can be accessed at DOI: 10.4231/D3NK3658M, DOI: 10.4231/D3HT2GC4G, DOI: 10.4231/D3D21RK0N).