This paper evaluates the effect of Structure-Soil-Structure Interaction (SSSI) between two buildings under seismic excitation given different parameters of the buildings, inter-building spacing, and soil type. An extended simplified reduced-order model, that enables higher mode interaction between structures, is proposed. This enables the exploration of the interaction between buildings with a very large difference in height. A database of strong ground motions records with Far-Field, Near-Field Without Pulse and Near-Field Pulse-Like characteristics are employed. Over 3 million system/ground motion cases are analysed in this extensive parametric study. The results suggest that the extended model captures significant interactions, in displacement responses, for the cases of a small building closely flanked by a much taller one.

This paper evaluates the effect of Structure-soil-structure interaction (SSSI) between two buildings given different parameters of the buildings, inter-building spacing, and soil type. A two-dimensional simple discrete nonlinear model is proposed that is described by a set of nonlinear differential equations of motion. A nonlinear phenomenological Bouc-Wen model, for the soil directly underneath the foundations, linear rotational interaction spring between buildings and linear behaviour of buildings are assumed. The seismic ground motion employed is spectrally matched with EC8 elastic spectra. The results showed that there are both unfavourable and beneficial configurations of the two buildings that produce important differences between nonlinear SSSI and nonlinear SSI (the uncoupled building case). Importantly it is demonstrated that the adverse effects of SSSI can be more pronounced when the nonlinear soil behaviour is assumed.

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Multi-story, reinforced-concrete (RC) building structures with soft stories are highly vulnerable to damage due to earthquake loads. The soft story causes a significant stiffness irregularity, which has led to numerous buildings collapsing in previous seismic events. In addition to the structural collapse, the failure of non-structural components (NSCs) has also been observed during past earthquakes. In light of this, this study investigates the effect of a soft story and its location on the seismic behavior of a supporting building and NSCs. The soft story is assumed to be located on the bottom (ground), middle, and top-story levels of the considered building models. Story displacements and inter-story drift ratios are evaluated to assess structural behavior. The floor response spectra and the amplification effects of NSC on the floor acceleration responses are studied to understand the behavior of NSCs. The analysis results revealed that the bottom soft story exhibits a considerable vertical stiffness irregularity, and its position substantially affects the floor response spectra. The amplification in the floor acceleration response was found to be greater at the soft-story level. This study reported that middle soft-story buildings exhibit the most remarkable amplification in the component’s acceleration. Finally, peak floor response demands are compared with the code-based formulation, and it is found that the code-based formulation’s linear assumption may lead peak floor response demands to be underestimated or overestimated.