Assessment of the seismic vulnerability of structures using: the N2 method, taking into account soil-structure interaction

The N2 method is a non-linear static method commonly used to design and evaluate the seismic performance of various types of buildings. This method offers several advantages for professional engineering practice, particularly for assessing the seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete structures. In this article, we will study the assessment of the seismic performance of reinforced concrete structures using the N2 method. More specifically, we will focus on soil-structure interaction based on the EUROCODE 8 seismic code. A comparison will be made between the use of the N2 method without soil-structure interaction (SSI) and the use of the N2 method with SSI. To illustrate this comparison, we will present an example of the structures tested. The results of the comparison show that taking account of soil-structure interaction brings us closer to understanding the actual behavior of a structure than not taking it into account. This study is a preliminary step towards the approval of the N2 method with soil-structure interaction (SSI) as a recommended simplified approach.