Abstract: The current seismic design of buildings often neglects the effects of basement stories and soil-structure interaction (SSI). This study aims to investigate the seismic response of high-rise buildings with varying numbers of basement stories, considering SSI effects both experimentally and numerically under different seismic actions. A similarity coefficient λ (λ = 1:50) is chosen for the shaking table tests of scaled models to mimic the seismic response of actual buildings. Numerical simulations using PLAXIS 3D were established for scaled and real models with and without SSI effects to simulate the complex system. The experimental and numerical simulation results demonstrated high accuracy. Moreover, the selected similarity coefficient of λ = 1:50 adequately represents the real building conditions under various seismic actions. From the experimental and numerical findings, it is noteworthy that SSI and basement stories exert significant influences on the seismic response of high-rise buildings. While most current codes suggest that SSI effects typically reduce the shear force on buildings but increase relative lateral displacement, it was observed that, in certain cases examined, SSI effects elevate both the shear force and relative lateral displacement of the buildings.

Key words: basement stories, soil-structure interaction, small shaking table test, seismic response