Application of spectral element method for dynamic analysis of plane frame structures

The paper presents a methodology to analyze plane frame structures using the Spectral Element Method (SEM) with and without considering Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI). The formulation of spectral element matrices based on higher-order element theories and the assemblage procedure of arbitrarily oriented members are outlined. It is shown that SEM gives more accurate results with much smaller computational cost, especially at high frequencies. Since the formulation is in the frequency domain, the frequency-dependent foundation impedance functions and SSI effects can easily be incorporated in the analysis. As an example, the dynamic response of a plane frame structure is calculated based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) and SEM. FEM and SEM results are compared at different frequency bands, and the effects of SSI on the dynamic response are discussed.