Seismic response analysis of deeply embedded nuclear reactor buildings considering frequency-dependent soil impedance in time domain

In order to estimate the seismic behavior of deeply embedded nuclear power buildings, it is important to accurately transform the soil impedance in the frequency domain to the impulse response in the time domain. Although the transform is important for some nuclear buildings because they are deeply embedded in the soil, there are few practical and accurate methods at present. The author has proposed practical transform methods. In this paper, seismic response analyses considering frequency-dependent soil impedance in the time domain are shown. First, the formulation of the proposed transform methods is described. Then, the response analysis of a nuclear reactor building deeply embedded in inhomogeneous soil was performed considering the full matrix soil impedance as the example of practical problems. Through these analyses, the validity and efficiency of the methods were confirmed.