Inter-story Drift Ratio Research Articles

Seismic performance evaluation of reinforced concrete hilly buildings under sequence of earthquakes

SummaryThe present study investigates the effect of earthquake sequences on the response of reinforced concrete hilly buildings having typical configurations, that is, stepback and split‐foundation, with three different story ratios. A set of 30 as‐recorded mainshock‐aftershock sequence of earthquake ground motions is considered for this study. Mainshock acceleration time histories are scaled at two distinct intensity levels to obtain the mainshock‐damaged building. These mainshock‐damaged hilly buildings are then subjected to aftershocks. A comparative study is performed for various response quantities, such as peak interstory drift ratio, peak floor acceleration, and peak roof displacement of undamaged and mainshock‐damaged buildings under aftershocks. Further, fragility analysis is carried out to study the effect of aftershocks on undamaged and mainshock‐damaged hilly buildings. Subsequently, component‐wise seismic loss estimation due to damage in the non‐structural and structural components is performed. It is concluded from the study that the building components that contribute maximum to the expected repair cost ratio vary with respect to the intensity of the aftershocks. Also, the estimated seismic loss is higher in mainshock‐damaged split‐foundation buildings in comparison to stepback buildings.

Experimental study on seismic performance of internal cruciform joints of grouting sleeve connection for modular integrated construction

Modular integrated construction (MiC) adopts room units that integrate maintenance structure, decoration and equipment pipelines in the factory-made modules, resulting in a lack of operating space for connecting modules at the construction site. In the previous research, the joints between modules are usually hinged or semi-rigid connections and partial strength joints. In this paper, a new type of joint with the grouting sleeve connection is proposed to connect modules horizontally and vertically, which is more convenient for construction and does not conflict with interior decoration. Six full-scale cruciform joints were tested to study the effect of axial compression ratio and different structural details. The test results presented the failure mode, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation of the specimens. The ultimate inter-story drift ratio is between 4.78 % rad and 5.96 % rad, which is larger than the requirement of 4 % rad in the special moment frame (SMF) system. The horizontal connection plate between modules can cooperate the deformation of left and right beams and columns, and significantly improve the lateral resistance of the joint. The vertical connection between modules did not slip or open and the grouting material is not broken. The inner and outer reinforced plates in the beam-to-column connection can transfer the tensile force of the beam flange well so the outer sleeve does not tear, and the wedge-shaped stiffener can inhibit the cracking of the beam-to-column connection. EC3 Part 1–8 was adopted to evaluate the stiffness characteristic of the proposed connection, indicating that the proposed joint can be classified as rigid joint for the non-sway frame. Finally, the theoretical ultimate resistance of the joint under the ideal failure mode is obtained, which is lower than the test results, indicating that the plastic development of the joint is sufficient and can be classified as full-strength joint.

Deformation behavior of rectangular underground structures in liquefiable deposits correlated to ground motion intensity measures

Rectangular underground structures in liquefiable deposits are susceptible to larger deformation during earthquake events. The intensity of earthquake motions, as one of the critical factors that would induce large deformation of underground structures in liquefiable deposits, however, was not received enough recognitions. In this paper, nonlinear dynamic analyses with a probabilistic seismic demand model (PSDM) were conducted for a two-dimensional liquefied soil-structure system, considering a variable thickness of liquefiable layer below the structure. The nonlinear soil behavior was simulated by the nonlinear constitutive model PDMY02. The constitutive parameters of saturated sand were calibrated by a slope model in the centrifuge test from LEAP-2017. Interstory drift ratio (IDR) and uplift ratio (UR) of underground structures were selected as engineering demand parameters (EDP). There were totally 18 recorded earthquake motions and 8 intensity measures (IMs) included for the PSDM. Numerical results show that the uplift behavior of underground structures is more sensitive to the variable thickness of liquefiable deposits compared to the horizontal drift of the structure. According to the performance of correlation, efficiency, practicality and proficiency, the velocity-related IMs are more appropriate than the acceleration-related IMs for the evaluation of seismic deformation behavior of underground structures. The deformation response as well as the adaptability of velocity-related IMs are further discussed and evaluated by considering more general cases including different buried depths and height-width ratios for rectangular underground structures.

Near-fault ground motion effect on self-centering modular bracing panels considering soil-structure interaction

This study investigates the nonlinear seismic response behavior of self-centering modular steel bracing panel (SCMBP) systems subjected to near-fault ground motion records, considering the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effect. Analytical formulas for the load-displacement relationship of an SCMBP were validated through nonlinear 3D continuum finite element analysis while a simplified 2D wireframe model utilizing a constitutive spring model was verified by the 2D refined finite element model and subsequently adopted for time history analysis of the SCMBP structures with SSI effect. Based on the nonlinear time history analysis of a 6-story prototype building subjected to a suite of near-fault ground motions, the prototype structure is found to be able to re-center itself even under near-fault ground motion scaled to the design basis earthquake (DBE) level while frame members remain undamaged, except for fuse devices. Additionally, SSI reduces inter-story drift ratios under both far-field and near-fault ground motions. The findings provide insights into the promising performance of using SCMBP systems as a seismic strengthening system for sites with potential SSI effects and near-fault earthquake impact. The findings of this study can be insightful to other self-centering systems with flag-shaped story shear hysteresis.

Cyclic loading tests and numerical simulations of an assembled X-shaped flexural steel damper

This paper proposes an assembled X-shaped flexural steel damper. Welding is waived for the novel damper. As the kernel element of the damper, the X-shaped flexural steel plates have the advantages of ease of installation and replacement if necessary. In the analytical part, the effective height of the flexural steel plate was suggested, and then, the yield displacement, yield load and initial stiffness of the damper were derived. The proof-of-concept cyclic loading test was conducted using one reduced-scale specimen within a four-bar linkage experimental setup. The hysteretic performance indexes, including strength, stiffness and energy dissipation, were quantified. The high-fidelity finite element (FE) models were established by ABAQUS. The parametric study was further conducted based on the verified FE model. The considered parameters were the height and thickness of the steel plates. The testing results indicate that the proposed damper has plump hysteretic curve with good energy dissipation capacity and excellent ductility, although slight slip behavior can be found due to the gap caused by the assembling process. The results obtained from analytical method and numerical model are in good agreement with the experimental data. The results of parametric analysis show that the numerical results well agree with analytical predictions, indicating the numerical model can reflect the mechanical behavior of AXSFD. A benchmark frame building was selected to demonstrate the seismic control efficacy of the damper. The nonlinear time history analysis results indicate that the damper reduced both peak and residual interstory drift ratios for the protected structure.

Performance assessment of steel frame buildings with hybrid self-centering braces under extremely rare far-field earthquakes

This paper investigates the seismic performance enhancement of steel frame buildings using a novel hybrid self-centering braces (HSBs) under extremely rare earthquake events. The hybrid self-centering brace consists of shape memory alloy (SMA) cables and viscoelastic (VE) dampers. A prototype bracing system is designed and fabricated to explore its basic mechanical behavior and working mechanism under cyclic loading, with a focus on its failure modes under large deformation loading condition. A multi-material mechanical model is developed to capture the mechanical behavior and failure of the HSB. Furthermore, five steel frame buildings with different parameterized HSBs are designed and modeled in OpenSees. Nonlinear dynamic analyses and incremental dynamic analyses are conducted on the five case-study frames using 44 far-field ground motions. The risk-based seismic performances of steel buildings with HSB are evaluated to assess the performance of HSB during extremely rare seismic events. The results show that the hybrid self-centering brace exhibits excellent self-centering and energy dissipation capabilities with the maximum equivalent viscous damping ratio reaching 9.4 %. Even under large deformations, VE dampers continue to work effectively after the failure of SMA cables, demonstrating remarkable redundancy. Numerical simulations further reveal that the redundancy of HSB can improve the structural seismic resilience in terms of inter-story drift ratio, residual drift, and floor absolute acceleration. The higher the redundancy of HSB in the case-study frames, the smaller the seismic response and mean annual frequency of exceedance of the engineering demand parameters, thereby indicating a significant improvement in seismic performance.

Vibration-control mechanism and damping performance of the eccentric connected structure-control system

Installing energy-dissipation devices in connected structures can greatly enhance their seismic performance. Currently, two-dimensional models are extensively studied, but they fail to fully capture the effects of eccentricities on the control efficiency of connected structures. To address this limitation, this study proposes a series-parallel rigid plate model that can simulate an eccentric connected structure-control system (ECSCS), enabling a comprehensive investigation. The study begins by deriving the equations of motion for the simplified model. It then analyzes the effects of energy-dissipation story (EDS) eccentricities, translational frequency ratio, and translational damping ratio on the torsional direction factor and torsional energy ratio at each mode frequency, specifically considering x-direction eccentricity. The subsequent exploration reveals the vibration-control mechanism and optimizes the EDS parameters using a multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm. Additionally, the control effects for various eccentricity ratios are compared. The findings demonstrate that modifying the parameters of the EDS can effectively reduce translational-torsional coupling effects and torsional energy ratios in each substructure. While the addition of EDS may increase the top rotation acceleration and inter-story drift ratio in some cases, the peak values of other dynamic responses decrease. Moreover, adjusting the span of the EDS significantly increases the translational-torsional frequency ratio and enhances the torsional resistance of the structure. The study also emphasizes the importance of considering the impact of an asymmetric lower tower on the control effect of ECSCS. In most cases, lower towers with the same eccentricity demonstrate superior control due to the contribution of EDS.

Influence of near-fault velocity pulse on the seismic response of subway station structure

This research aims to explore the influence of near-fault velocity pulse on the seismic response of subway station under the condition of acceleration response spectra being consistent. Two suites of seismic motions are utilized, one suite is twelve as-recorded seismic motions with velocity pulses, and the other one suite is the corresponding artificial seismic motions synthesized with the response spectra of seismic motions in the first suite as target spectra. For each seismic motion with velocity pulse, the corresponding synthetic seismic motion without velocity pulse is generated by using the method of superimposing narrow-band time histories. Numerical model of soil-subway station interaction is developed by using the commercial software ABAQUS with a practical 3-span, 3-story subway station as the prototype. Numerical results indicate that with the engineering sites change from hard to soft and the burial depths change from shallow to deep, the adverse effect of velocity pulse is more significant, and the maximum inter-story drift ratio of subway station with a burial depth of 20 m embedded in site classes I, II and III has increased by 16.5%, 20.1% and 21.7%, respectively. However, the influence of velocity pulse on the concrete compression damage of subway station is not obvious.

Reliability-based design optimization for seismic structures considering randomness associated with ground motions

When addressing the dynamic reliability analysis of structures, it becomes necessary to account for multiple limit state functions or their combinations. In scenarios where structures are subjected to random excitation, this can lead to intricate inter-dependencies among different limit states, and the computational workload can pose a substantial challenge in ensuring sufficient precision. Code-based design primarily ensures safety at the member level, while deterministic optimization fails to accommodate the inherent uncertainties associated with external excitation or the system as a whole. Therefore, in such cases, to address both the uncertainties in excitations and the presence of multiple limit states while mitigating computational challenges, equivalent extreme-value criteria are employed within the framework of the probability density evolution method to calculate the global reliability of the structure subjected to stochastic ground motions generated from the physically motivated stochastic ground motion model. Numerical optimization is subsequently conducted using genetic algorithms, aiming to minimize the cost of the superstructure while adhering to the design performance criteria related to the inter-story drift ratio and considering global reliability. Additionally, multi-objective optimization is carried out using NSGA-II, permitting the generation of multiple solutions, from which one can select the most suitable solution as needed. The numerical results illustrate the effectiveness of this technique in achieving an optimal balance between the cost of the structure and the consideration of global reliability, providing a comprehensive solution for dynamic reliability analysis and design optimization of structures under random excitations.

Rapid peak seismic response prediction of two-story and three-span subway stations using deep learning method

A deep learning-based rapid peak seismic response prediction model for the most common two-story and three-span subway stations is proposed in this study. The established model predicts the peak seismic responses of subway stations with a data-driven fashion and using limited information. The prediction model extracts the features of ground motions using one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) and then integrates the information of subway stations (i.e., the seismic fortification intensity, buried depth, and shear wave velocity) through a fully connected neural network for regression, resulting in peak seismic responses, namely the peak floor acceleration (PFA) and maximum inter-story drift ratio (MIDR). The model is trained using 19,200 samples obtained from the nonlinear time-history analyses (NLTHAs) of the designed 48 typical subway station structures. Furthermore, the external model verification was performed on 960 additional samples. For the predictions of PFA and MIDR, the coefficient of determination (R2) values are 0.967 and 0.986, respectively, and the damage states of subway stations are further evaluated, achieving an accuracy of 95.0%. These indicates that the model has good predictive performance and generalization ability. Moreover, the prediction model demonstrates a significantly higher computational efficiency compared to numerical simulation methods.

Cyclic Behavior of the Column-Tree Moment Connection with Weakened Plates: A Numerical Approach

The use of column-tree connections is common in controlled shop environments due to their cost-effectiveness in achieving ductile welds. Field bolts are also easy to install and inspect. However, there is currently no prequalification available for these connections, their performance is not fully understood, and the cost of aftermath repairs is still a major concern for owners. In this research, analytical and numerical studies were performed to assess the cyclic behavior considering the effects of the bolted splice location, bolt slippage, and splice plate thickness. Fourteen numerical models using the finite element method in ANSYS software were analyzed to evaluate the nonlinear behavior of moment connection configurations in terms of the strength, stiffness, ductility, energy dissipation, and overall cyclic response. The results showed that appropriately proportioned bolted splice connections can meet the requirements for prequalified moment connections. The models complied with the criteria established in AISC 358 and achieved flexural resistance that was higher than 80% of the beam plastic moment at 4% of the interstory drift ratio. The weakened plates concentrated the inelastic action, which allowed us to prevent the brittle behavior and damage to the column, welding, and other components of the moment connection. Complex geometries or specially fabricated parts were not required, providing a cost-effective way to control seismic-related damage. Also, required repairs are based on the replacement of standard parts, reducing operational detentions in facilities. Finally, the moment connection studied is classified as partially restrained (PR) according to the requirements established in AISC 360.

Nonlinear time-history analysis of the Evolution Tower resting on cellular raft due to earthquake loads

This study includes an investigation of using a cellular raft over piles on the seismic response of both a twisting and regular tower using the direct method, demonstrating the variance between a solid raft and a cellular raft. Both towers are 52 stories high and made of reinforced concrete. They were also built on a reinforced concrete piled-raft foundation. The soil model is thought to be multi-layered and has the same profile as the zone under investigation (New Mansoura, Egypt). All structural properties (dimensions, section properties, materials) are equal to allow a fair comparison of output response for both towers. The sole difference between the two towers is their elevation. The study is carried out under seismic loads using nonlinear time-history analysis. All analyses are carried out employing finite-element software (Midas GTS NX). Thus, seven distinct earthquake records with full 3D models were used for time-history research. According to the findings and discussions, it is concluded that adopting a cellular raft can reduce the dynamic response of the towers. Considering the soil–structure interaction, the maximum inter-story drift ratio decreases by 8.17% for the twisting tower and 5.58% for the regular tower while using the cellular raft. Furthermore, the regular tower is more effective than the twisting tower at resisting lateral loads.

Experimental study on seismic performance of timber frame with novel energy-dissipation joints

The beam-column joints of traditional timber frames are mortise-tenon or iron hook joints, which are prone to joint damage during earthquakes, thus causing the collapse of buildings. To avoid such adverse seismic damage, this study proposes an energy-dissipation joint applied to timber frames. The energy-dissipation joints serve both as joint connections and knee braces, providing multiple lines of seismic defense. To verify the effectiveness of the energy-dissipation joints, quasi-static tests were conducted on four specimens. It is shown that the energy-dissipation joints successfully achieve the intended objective. When the inter-story drift ratio of the timber frame is small, the energy-dissipation elements in the energy-dissipation joints remain in an elastic state. As the inter-story drift ratio increases, the energy-dissipation elements in the energy-dissipation device gradually begin to yield and dissipate energy. The energy-dissipation elements cease operation when the inter-story drift ratio is relatively large, and the energy-dissipation device transforms into knee brace to provide lateral stiffness to the timber frame. Compared with the traditional timber frame, the load-bearing capacity, lateral stiffness, and energy dissipation capacity of the timber frame with the energy-dissipation joints were significantly improved, and the failure mode shifted from beam-column joint damage to timber column fracture damage, and no collapse occurred under an inter-story drift ratio of 12.86%.

Seismic response analysis of frame structures with uneven settlement of foundation considering soil-structure interaction

Uneven settlement of foundation (USF) has a significant effect on the seismic response of rigid foundation structures. However, the main reason for USF is that the balance between superstructure and site soil is failure. For investigating seismic response characteristics of the USF structure considering soil-structure interaction (SSI), USF closer to reality is achieved by nonlinear direct integration method and Stage-Construction method. And the model reliability is verified by Sway-Rocking model and Lagrange energy method. Five different models, three seismic intensities, and different values of USF are performed. The natural period, inter-story drift ratios, the plastic hinges rate, and torsional angles are extracted to investigate structural seismic response. The results show that the effect of SSI on the magnitude of increase in structural inter-story drift ratio is not monotonous with the increase of USF in the presence of earthquakes. The USF structure considering SSI may significantly affect its seismic response, and will suffer more structural damage compared to the rigid foundation and the even settlement foundation. The rigid foundation structure with large value of USF leads to severe stretching on the settlement area and increases damage to the structure. Finally, the USF structures have relatively large torsional angles at the top story, and will exhibit significant torsional behavior. Hence, it is necessary and reasonable to consider SSI in the seismic design of USF structures. The research results can provide some references for seismic design.

Response- and probability-based evaluation of spectrally matched ground motion selection strategies for bi-directional dynamic analysis of low- to mid-rise RC buildings

In this study, the effect of different strategies which consider various levels of constraints for spectrally matched ground motion (GM) selection on seismic responses of the buildings was evaluated. For this, six different three-dimensional buildings and three different local soil classes were considered. Various GM record sets were used for each strategy and local soil class pair to perform bi-directional nonlinear dynamic analyses of the buildings and maximum global and maximum inter-story drift ratio demands were obtained. To evaluate the efficiency of proposed strategies, the mean and dispersion of the demands were investigated. Then, the differences among the means of the seismic demands obtained for the strategies were evaluated using the analysis of variance method. Moreover, probability curves of the demands were constructed and compared. The results indicate that i) the mean of the demands generally used for code-based performance assessment can be estimated more consistently by the proposed strategies; ii) the supplemental constraints about spectral matching allow to control the dispersion of the spectral acceleration values of selected GMs and hence the dispersion of the demands; iii) using the appropriate one of the proposed strategies, GMs with desired dispersion of spectral accelerations can be acquired for probability-based performance assessment.

Seismic behaviour of post-earthquake composite frame structures with different damage levels

Since earthquakes pose a huge threat to buildings, the post-earthquake safety assessment is quite important, especially in earthquake-prone areas. This paper investigates the seismic performance of post-earthquake composite frame structures with different damage levels. Two-stage nonlinear time history analysis is carried out for a ten-story steel–concrete composite frame and the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the seismic waves is used as the main parameter characterizing the seismic intensity and damage level. In the first stage, the seismic waves with the PGAs of 0.20 g, 0.30 g and 0.40 g are applied to the frame to result in three different damage levels. The peak inter-story drift ratios, residual inter-story drift ratios and plastic hinge ratios of the structure in the first-stage earthquakes are analysed, which presents a uniform distribution pattern for the three damage levels. The composite frame is evaluated as structurally safe at all three damage levels based on the limits of residual inter-story drift ratios given in current standards. In the second stage, the seismic waves with the PGA of 0.40 g are used to explore the residual capacity of the structure subjected to strong earthquakes. The dynamic responses of the intact structure and the structure with different damage levels are compared. The results indicate that despite the recognised structural safety, pre-existing seismic damage can enlarge the lateral deformation, reduce the internal forces and resistance capacity and increase the plastic hinges when the composite frame is exposed to the second-stage earthquakes. Generally, the damage caused by earthquakes with the PGA of 0.40 g will have an obvious influence on the seismic behaviour of the post-earthquake structure, in which situation further safety assessment and structural repairs are necessary.

Comparison on seismic resilience of hybrid, isolation, and damping control reinforced concrete frame-shear wall buildings

To investigate the effectiveness of different vibration control methods in realizing seismic resilience of reinforced concrete (RC) frame-shear wall structures, four cases with different control methods were designed, including the damping control building using energy dissipation cladding panels (EDCPs) (RCFSW7-D), isolated building (RCFSW7-I), isolated building with enhanced stiffness of superstructure (RCFSW7.5-I), and hybrid control building using both EDCPs and isolation (RCFSW7-H). The critical seismic responses and resilient performance of four cases were analyzed based on the Chinese code. Maximum inter-story drift ratios (MIDRs) of RCFSW7-I, RCFSW7.5-I, and RCFSW7-H under maximum considered earthquake were 36%, 51%, and 72% lower than that of RCFSW7-D, respectively. Although the stiffness of superstructure of RCFSW7.5-I and RCFSW7-H were approximately identical, the MIDR of RCFSW7-H was 44% smaller than that of RCFSW7.5-I. Meanwhile, the maximum absolute floor accelerations (MAFAs) of three isolated structure under MCE were approximately 70% lower than that of RCFSW7-D. The seismic resilience level of RCFSW7-D was Level 1, which is dominated by the damage of structural components (SCs) controlled by MIDR and acceleration-sensitive non-structural components (ASNSCs) controlled by MAFA. The seismic resilience levels of RCFSW7-I and RCFSW7.5-I successfully increased to Level 2, leading by the effectively control of MAFA and damage of ASNSCs. However, the MIDR was not sufficiently controlled even the stiffness of superstructure was increased. In contrast, hybrid control building significantly reduced both the MIDR and MAFA through the currently utilization of seismic isolation and EDCPs, especially the MIDR and damage of SCs, leading to a seismic resilience level of Level 3.

Numerical and experimental analysis in seismic performance of post-earthquake reinforced concrete frame retrofitted with ECC

In order to further demonstrate the effectiveness of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) in repairing and strengthening the post-earthquake damaged structure, at the overall structural level, experimental and numerical comparative analysis of structural seismic performance before and after “retrofitted with ECC” is conducted in this paper. A 1:2-scale reinforced concrete frame is tested under cyclic reversed loading and a new ECC material’s constitutive model is proposed in this paper for improving the accuracy and feasibility of numerical modelling. The modelling method and newly proposed constitutive model of ECC has been demonstrated to be workable and accurate. Based on numerical and experimental data, the increase of the average yielding displacement after the installation of ECC is relatively significant (80.4% to 156.4%), and the repairing method using ECC in post-earthquake damaged RC frame can restore and even exceed the original frame’s load bearing capacity. Comparing the ultimate inter-story drift ratio, the ratio with ECC is about 31.0% higher, indicating that ECC has good deformation capacity and the usage of ECC is indeed an effective method to improve deformation capacity in repairing and strengthening post-earthquake damaged structures. The results confirm the effectiveness and superiority of retrofitting ECC in post-earthquake damaged structures for the reason that the repaired structure can reach the same level of seismic performance as the original structure. The “repairable” characteristic can be used in the design of earthquake resilient structures.

Seismic retrofit of low-rise structures using rotational viscoelastic dampers

In this research, the efficiency of a rotational viscoelastic seismic energy dissipation device is evaluated in a theoretical framework. Unlike conventional dampers which block the bays, the main advantage of this damper lies within its vertical installation scheme that provides open space in the bay and architectural flexibility. The proposed damper consists of a steel column with viscoelastic hinges at both ends that dissipate the seismic energy. Conventional viscoelastic dampers usually act under translational deformation, whereas it acts under rotational deformations in the considered scheme. The theoretical foundation is laid for the proposed damper and is verified by comparing the results with the analytical model of the damper. The developed device is proven to be versatile in terms of stiffness and energy dissipation which can be easily adjusted. The application and efficiency of this damper is validated by retrofitting a soft-first-story structure to fulfill the enhanced performance objective. The performance of the structure under a suite of earthquakes is compared before and after the seismic retrofit in terms of maximum interstory drift ratio and residual displacement.

Seismic response of a steel frame considering the underground subway-soft soil-steel frame interaction

The existence of the underground structures can alter the mechanical behavior of surface structures, leading to increased damage during earthquakes. Therefore, it is essential to consider the effects of underground structures. This paper presents a modeling method for soft soil-steel frame structures, with results that are well-correlated with test data, providing a reliable foundation for modeling the entire system. The subway station is introduced, and the underground subway-soft soil-steel frame finite element model is established to study the influence of soft soil and underground subway on the seismic response of the surface steel frame. Key parameters, including soil stiffness, surface structure, earthquake type, and horizontal distance between the underground and surface structures, are taken into consideration. The results show that soft soil has the ability to filter and amplify seismic waves, and its impact on the soil surface varies depending on the specific seismic wave and soil stiffness. Lower soil stiffness leads to a more pronounced amplification effect. Additionally, the presence of an underground subway can scatter and reflect seismic waves, resulting in a 10 % or so increase in peak acceleration at the soil surface under the same ground motion excitation. Finally, the maximum inter-story drift ratio of the steel frame structure increases significantly under the excitation of EL-Centro and Kobe waves, whereas its change under the Taft wave excitation depends on specific parameters.