Evaluation of ground motion scaling methods in soil–structure interaction analysis

Dynamic analysis of structures deals with scaling of ground motions, which is vital for estimation of seismic responses. A major source of variability in seismic responses of structures arises from scaling of ground motions. In this paper, the accuracy of six conventional scaling methods on estimation of engineering demand parameters of soil–structure interacting systems is investigated. Two‐dimensional structural models of 5, 10, and 20 stories shear buildings are studied by using stick models, whereas the underlying soil is modeled using the cone model concept. This research attempts to elucidate the accuracy of considered methods for the evaluation of responses. The results show that a suitable scaling method for a response may differ from one to another in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.