A fully nonlinear finite element (FE) model is developed to investigate the impact of hysteretic and viscous material behavior on the response of a soil-structure system recorded by a Large-Scale Seismic Test (LSST) array in Lotung, Taiwan, during the earthquake of May 20, 1986. The interaction effects between a 1/4-scale nuclear power containment plant and the surrounding soil medium are considered. Free field seismic waves are applied directly on the boundary of the system. The constitutive model is based on a three-dimensional (3D) bounding surface plasticity theory with a vanishing elastic region, and accounts for shear stiffness degradation and hysteretic damping right at the onset of loading. Viscous damping is assumed to be mass-proportional and is added directly to the equation of motion, which in turn is integrated in the time domain by the second-order accurate alpha-method. Newton's method is used each step to solve the nonlinear system of equations. The impact of soil-structure interaction (SSI) is described in the context of three dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis.

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