Dynamic response of large-scale Vibration-Sensitive structural foundations, and case study of the new Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source

Abstract

This project is motivated by the construction of Brazil's new synchrotron light source, the Sirius Project. The proper performance of such facilities requires the vibration amplitudes of its underlying foundation to be within remarkably strict limits. Complying with these limits requires extensive investigations on the dynamic response of such foundations interacting with the soil. The aim of this project is to obtain an accurate, computationally efficient model of large-scale, arbitrarily shaped elastic foundations interacting with large groups of piles and with the soil, which constitute the main elements of a synchrotron light source's foundation. The work involves establishing original mathematical derivations and implementation schemes that are yet to be addressed in the literature of geotechnics. The project tackles three cornerstones of such models, namely (a) formulating a type of finite element that considers its bonded contact with an elastic half-space, in order to allow modeling an arbitrarily-shaped foundation in contact with the soil, (b) implementing a new, more efficient, possibly parallel, code of the thin-layer model of pile groups, and (c) investigating integration schemes to deal with the case of integrands containing singularities and oscillating-decaying terms, which recur in such models. The project also includes a case study with construction parameters of the Sirius light source. The models developed in this project comprise an important simulation tool to aid in the design of small or large scale vibration-sensitive structures, including windmill farms, hydroelectric power plants, nanomechanics laboratories, synchrotron light sources and other particle accelerators, and concert halls. (AU)