Comparative response and performance of base‐isolated and fixed‐base structures

A building with a seismic isolation system, in an earthquake, is recognized as producing substantially smaller accelerations and deformations compared with a building that use other systems. This type of system is therefore expected to better protect the building's nonstructural components, equipment, and other contents that are essential for the activities conducted in the building. Unlike many available studies on building responses, only a small number of studies on a buildings' nonstructural component responses are available, and no study has directly addressed building performance with regard to nonstructural component protection. This paper therefore measures the performance of various seismically isolated buildings. Specifically, the effects of important structural parameters, namely, isolation stiffness, isolation damping ratio, and number of stories on the response of base‐isolated structures are investigated parametrically. Ground motions with 2% exceedence in 50years Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) are used. Performance is compared with that of fixed‐base structures in order to present data that will be useful in justifying the more costly technology. The buildings are 3, 9, and 20 stories, represented by MDOF shear‐beam models. As examples of displacement‐sensitive and acceleration‐sensitive components, partition walls and ceilings are considered, respectively. The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center performance‐based earthquake engineering methodology is adopted to evaluate the failure return periods of the examples based on their available fragility curves. In addition, the curves are varied hypothetically to understand the sensitivity of the return period to the curve features. Then, the median and dispersion of fragility curves required to satisfy the components' desired failure return period are obtained. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Base isolation systems for earthquake protection of multi-storey shear structures

This paper is a study of the effectiveness of a wide range of bilinear hysteretic isolation systems in shielding multistorey 2-D shear structures from earthquake excitations. Important parameters of the isolation system are identified and their effect on structure response noted. It is shown that isolation systems can be constructed which allow the structure proper to remain purely elastic even during very strong ground motions. It is further shown that the shear responses and base displacements of structures on these isolation systems can be accurately estimated from elastic response spectra of the forcing earthquakes. The philosophy of structure isolation is discussed and an introduction given to the physical devices currently available to provide it.     

Parametric analysis of liquid storage tanks base isolated by curved surface sliding bearings

Curved surface sliding bearings, which are usually called as friction pendulum system (FPS) are commonly used for base isolation of liquid storage tanks since the period of the isolation system is independent of the storage level. However the restoring force and the damping at the isolation system are functions of axial load which changes during an earthquake excitation. This change might be in appreciable amounts especially for the tanks with high aspect ratios. The present paper focuses on earthquake performances of both broad and slender tanks base isolated by FPS bearings. The effects of overturning moment and vertical acceleration on axial load variation at the bearings are considered. The efficiency of the isolation system is investigated by analyzing the effects of various parameters such as; (i) isolation period, (ii) tank aspect ratio and (iii) coefficient of friction. The Haroun and Housner's three-degrees-of-freedom lumped mass model was used to solve the governing equations of motion in which convective, impulsive and rigid masses were included. A number of selected ground motions were considered and the results were compared to those of non-isolated cases.As a result, base isolation was found to be effective in reducing the base shear values for both broad and slender tanks without significantly affecting the sloshing displacements of the broad ones. The efficiency was even more pronounced for slender tanks subjected to near fault ground motions for isolation periods above 3 s. This specific value of isolation period also eliminated possible design problems arising from under-estimation of base shear values (up to 40%) due to ignoring the effects of axial load variation in lower isolation periods. Overturning effects should not be ignored especially for tanks with high aspect ratios (S) and being subjected to near fault ground motion.     

An experimental study of nominally symmetric and asymmetric structures isolated with the FPS

This experimental investigation deals with the earthquake behaviour of a nominally symmetric and a mass‐asymmetric three‐storey structural model isolated with the frictional pendulum system (FPS). Both accidental and natural torsion are evaluated in the structure by using recorded accelerations in all building floors and measured deformations at the isolation level. A 3D‐shaking table was used to subject the model to five different ground motions, including impulsive as well as far‐field subduction‐zone type earthquakes. Results show that the analytical predictions of the earthquake behaviour of the isolated structure, as obtained from a physical model of the FPS, are in close agreement with the true complex inelastic measured behaviour of the FPS. Besides, experimental results also validate previous observations about the importance of accounting for the variability of the normal loads in modelling the earthquake behaviour of FPS isolators. Measured torsional deformation amplifications at the base of the building vary, in the mean, from 2.5% to 6% for the symmetric and asymmetric structural configurations, respectively. In relation to the fixed base structure, the reduction factors for the base shear of the isolated structure are, in the mean, about 3.9 for both configurations. Finally, it is concluded that the FPS is capable of controlling the lateral–torsional motions of mass‐asymmetric structures quite effectively by aligning the centre of mass of the superstructure with the centre of pendular and frictional resistance of the isolation system. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of supplemental damping on LRB and FPS seismic isolators under near-fault ground motions

Numerical simulations are performed to assess the effects of near-fault ground motions on base-isolated buildings that consist of either lead-rubber (LRB) or friction-pendulum system (FPS) bearings in addition to supplemented viscous dampers. While LRB and FPS isolation systems have been applied for a number of years, the addition of supplemental damping devices is being currently considered for strong ground motions to reduce the isolator displacements. However, the main problem in this case is that the addition of damping may increase both internal deformation and absolute accelerations of the superstructure and thus may defeat many of the gains for which base isolation is intended. In the present paper, a detailed and systematic investigation on the performance of LRB and FPS isolation systems, provided with supplemental viscous damping under the effect of near-fault ground motions, has been carried out by using commercial finite element software.     

Seismic response evaluation of base-isolated reinforced concrete buildings under bidirectional excitation

This paper reports on an investigation of the seismic response of base-isolated reinforced concrete buildings, which considers various isolation system parameters under bidirectional near-fault and far-fault motions. Three-dimensional models of 4-, 8-, and 12-story base-isolated buildings with nonlinear effects in the isolation system and the superstructure are investigated, and nonlinear response history analysis is carried out. The bounding values of isolation system properties that incorporate the aging effect of isolators are also taken into account, as is the current state of practice in the design and analysis of base-isolated buildings. The response indicators of the buildings are studied for near-fault and far-fault motions weight-scaled to represent the design earthquake (DE) level and the risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake (MCE_R) level. Results of the nonlinear response history analyses indicate no structural damage under DE-level motions for near-fault and far-fault motions and for MCE_R-level far-fault motions, whereas minor structural damage is observed under MCE_R-level near-fault motions. Results of the base-isolated buildings are compared with their fixed-base counterparts. Significant reduction of the superstructure response of the 12-story base-isolated building compared to the fixed-base condition indicates that base isolation can be effectively used in taller buildings to enhance performance. Additionally, the applicability of a rigid superstructure to predict the isolator displacement demand is also investigated. It is found that the isolator displacements can be estimated accurately using a rigid body model for the superstructure for the buildings considered.     

Development of a tunable friction pendulum system for semi‐active control of building structures under earthquake ground motions

The Friction Pendulum System (FPS) isolator is commonly used as a base isolation system in buildings. In this paper, a new tunable FPS (TFPS) isolator is proposed and developed to act as a semi‐active control system by combining the traditional FPS and semi‐active control concept. Theoretical analysis and physical tests were carried out to investigate the behavior of the proposed TFPS isolator. The experimental and theoretical results were in good agreement, both suggesting that the friction force of the TFPS isolator can be tuned to achieve seismic isolation of the structure. A series of numerical simulations of a base‐isolated structure equipped with the proposed TFPS isolator and subjected to earthquake ground motions were also conducted. In the analyses, the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method was adopted to control the friction force of the proposed TFPS, and the applicability and effectiveness of the TFPS in controlling the structure's seismic responses were investigated. The simulation results showed that the TFPS can reduce the displacement of the isolation layer without significantly increasing the floor acceleration and inter‐story displacement of the superstructure, confirming that the TFPS can effectively control a base‐isolated structure under earthquake ground motions.     

楼板隔震消能结构体系

提出了一种新型减震结构体系——楼板隔震消能结构体系。该结构体系的特点是:竖向荷载传递途径与传统结构相同,但在楼板与主体结构水平承重构件之间设置高阻尼隔震层,在楼板与主体结构竖向承重构件之间留出空隙,并在其中安装消能阻尼器,使结构在发生水平振动时楼板与主体结构之间能够发生一定的相对运动,产生隔震和消能作用,减小结构的地震反应。本文给出了单层楼板隔震消能结构的运动微分方程,以及基底输入谐和振动时的结构传递函数,并分析了结构参数对传递函数的影响。     

Generalized dynamic analysis of structural single rocking walls (SRWs)

The investigation of structural single rocking walls (SRWs) continues to gain interest as they produce self-centering lateral load responses with reduced structural damage. The simple rocking model with modifications has been shown to capture these responses accurately if the SRW and its underlying base are infinitely rigid. This paper advances previous rocking models by accounting for (1) the inelastic actions at or near the base of the SRW and (2) the flexural responses within the wall. Included in the proposed advancements are hysteretic and inherent viscous damping associated with these two deformation components so that the total dynamic responses of SRWs can be captured with good accuracy. A system of nonlinear equations of motion is developed, in which the rocking base is discretized into fibers using a zero-length element to locate the associated compressive deformations and damage. The flexural deformations of the rocking body are captured using an elastic term, while the impact events are modeled using impulse-momentum equations. Comparisons with experiments of structural precast concrete and masonry SRWs show that the proposed approach accurately estimates the dynamic responses of different SRWs with and without unbonded posttensioning, for various dynamic excitations and degrees of hysteretic action. Using the proposed approach, a numerical investigation employs different configurations of structural SRWs to quantify the various sources of energy loss, including hysteretic action and impact damping, during various horizontal ground motions.     

Seismic response of light internal equipment in base-isolated structures

The seismic response of light secondary systems in a building is dependent on the response of the primary structural system to the seismic ground motion with the result that very high accelerations can be induced in such secondary systems. This response can be reduced through the use of aseismic base isolation which is a design strategy whereby the entire building can be decoupled from the damaging horizontal components of seismic ground motion by the use of some form of isolation system. The paper presents a theoretical analysis of the response of light equipment in isolated structures and a parallel experimental programme both of which show that the use of base isolation can not only attenuate the response of the primary structural system but also reduce the response of secondary systems. Thus, the design of equipment and piping in a base-isolated building is very much simpler than that for a conventionally founded structure: inelastic response and equipment-structure interaction need not be considered and multiple support response analysis is rendered unnecessary. Although an isolation system with linear elastic bearings can reduce the acceleration of the structure, it may be accompanied by large relative displacements between the structure and the ground. A system using lead-rubber hysteretic bearings, having a force-displacement relation which is approximately a bilinear loop, can reduce these displacements. A parallel experimental programme was carried out to investigate the response of light equipment in structures isolated using lead-rubber bearings. The experimental results show that these bearings can dissipate energy and limit the displacement and acceleration of the structure but are less effective in reducing the accelerations in the internal equipment. The results of both the analysis and the tests show that base isolation is a very effective method for the seismic protection of light equipment items in buildings.     

Full‐scale shaking table test of a base‐isolated medical facility subjected to vertical motions

Base isolation is a well known technology that has been proven to reduce structural response to horizontal ground accelerations. However, vertical response still remains a topic of concern for base‐isolated buildings, perhaps more so than in fixed‐base buildings as isolation is often used when high performance is required. To investigate the effects of vertical response on building contents and nonstructural components, a series of full‐scale shaking table tests were conducted at the E‐Defense facility in Japan. A four‐story base‐isolated reinforced concrete building was outfitted as a medical facility with a wide variety of contents, and the behavior of the contents was observed. The rubber base isolation system was found to significantly amplify vertical accelerations in some cases. However, the damage caused by the vertical ground motions was not detrimental when peak vertical floor accelerations remained below 2 g with three exceptions: (1) small items placed on shelves slid or toppled; (2) objects jumped when placed on nonrigid furniture, which tended to increase the response; and (3) equipment with vertical eccentricities rocked and jumped. In these tests, all equipment and nonstructural components remained functional after shaking. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Base isolation for near‐fault motions

Three analytical studies of base‐isolated structures are carried out. First, six pairs of near‐fault motions oriented in directions parallel and normal to the fault were considered, and the average of the response spectra of these earthquake records was obtained. This study shows that in addition to pulse‐type displacements, these motions contain significant energy at high frequencies and that the real and pseudo‐velocity spectra are quite different. The second analysis modelled the response of a model of an isolated structure with a flexible superstructure to study the effect of isolation damping on the performance of different isolation systems under near‐fault motion. The results show that there exists a value of isolation system damping for which the superstructure acceleration for a given structural system attains a minimum value under near‐fault motion. Therefore, although increasing the bearing damping beyond a certain value may decrease the bearing displacement, it may transmit higher accelerations into the superstructure. Finally, the behaviour of four isolation systems subjected to the normal component of each of the near‐fault motions were studied, showing that EDF type isolation systems may be the optimum choice for the design of isolated structures in near‐fault locations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimized friction pendulum and precast-prestressed pile to base-isolate a Chilean masonry house

In this study friction pendulum system (FPS) bearings and precast-prestressed pile (PPP) isolators are considered as base isolation devices for a Chilean confined masonry house. The house is numerically modeled using a multiple degree-of-freedom approach that is calibrated with experimental data. Dynamic behavior of the FPS and PPP isolators is simulated using analytical formulations based on laboratory testing. Optimization of the isolators is performed using an earthquake that is generated to match the design spectrum for the house based on Chilean seismic code. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is applied to carry out the optimization. Seismic response of the base-isolated structure subjected to a suite of ground motions is compared to the performance of the traditionally-constructed structure by means of several performance indices (PIs). Numerical simulations indicate that the PPP isolation system is more effective in reducing the base and structural shear, interstory drift, and floor acceleration of the structure than the FPS isolation system, although both systems result in substantial reductions of the response.     

Seismic response of 20‐story base‐isolated and fixed‐base reinforced concrete structural wall buildings at a near‐fault site

This paper investigates numerically the seismic response of six seismically base‐isolated (BI) 20‐story reinforced concrete buildings and compares their response to that of a fixed‐base (FB) building with a similar structural system above ground. Located in Berkeley, California, 2 km from the Hayward fault, the buildings are designed with a core wall that provides most of the lateral force resistance above ground. For the BI buildings, the following are investigated: two isolation systems (both implemented below a three‐story basement), isolation periods equal to 4, 5, and 6 s, and two levels of flexural strength of the wall. The first isolation system combines tension‐resistant friction pendulum bearings and nonlinear fluid viscous dampers (NFVDs); the second combines low‐friction tension‐resistant crosslinear bearings, lead‐rubber bearings, and NFVDs. The designs of all buildings satisfy ASCE 7‐10 requirements, except that one component of horizontal excitation, is used in the 2D nonlinear response history analysis. Analysis is performed for a set of ground motions scaled to the design earthquake and to the maximum considered earthquake (MCE). At both the design earthquake and the MCE, the FB building develops large inelastic deformations and shear forces in the wall and large floor accelerations. At the MCE, four of the BI buildings experience nominally elastic response of the wall, with floor accelerations and shear forces being 0.25 to 0.55 times those experienced by the FB building. The response of the FB and four of the BI buildings to four unscaled historical pulse‐like near‐fault ground motions is also studied. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shaking‐table tests on reinforced concrete frames with different isolation systems

The effectiveness of seismic isolation in protecting structural and non‐structural elements from damage has been assessed in an extensive programme of shaking‐table tests, carried out on four identical 1/3.3‐scale, two‐dimensional, reinforced concrete (R/C) frames. Four different isolation systems were considered, namely: (i) rubber‐based, (ii) steel‐based, (iii) shape memory alloy (SMA)‐based and (iv) hybrid, i.e. based on both SMA and steel components, isolation systems. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the main results of the experimental tests on base‐isolated models, whose structural response is described through: (i) maximum base displacements; (ii) maximum interstorey drifts; (iii) maximum storey accelerations and (iv) maximum storey shear forces. The evolution of the fundamental frequency of vibration of the R/C frame during the tests is also described. The beneficial effects of using base isolation resulted in no or slight damage, under strong earthquakes, to both structural and non‐structural members, as well as to the internal content of the building. The comparison with the experimental results obtained in shaking‐table tests on similar fixed‐base models emphasizes these positive aspects. Finally, advantages and drawbacks related to the use of each isolation system are discussed in the paper. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic response analysis of an irregular base isolated building

This paper assesses the reliability of code-compliant linear and nonlinear dynamic analyses for irregular buildings with base isolation system (BIS). Comprehensive analyses are carried out for a case study comprising a large reinforced concrete multi-storey framed hospital with 327 high-damping rubber bearings. Spectral and time history (linear and nonlinear) analyses were performed on the three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) of the structure; simplified analyses were also conducted on single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems. It is found that, at damageability limit state, the values of maximum interstorey drifts (d/h) computed with spectral analyses on the three-dimensional FEM range between 1/6 and 1/10 of the code limit (d/h = 0.33%); thus more stringent code limits should be required for buildings with BISs. The maximum floor acceleration is reduced by about 70% with respect to the ground acceleration (free field site); the acceleration profile is uniform along the height of the multi-storey frame. Threshold values of floor accelerations to assess the seismic performance of equipments in buildings with BIS are lacking. At ultimate limit state (ULS), spectral analyses provide values of actions and deformations that are less conservative than those derived through time history analyses. To perform reliable dynamic analyses of base isolated buildings it is crucial to select natural earthquake ground motions compliant with the fundamental period of vibration of the structural system. Nevertheless, it is not straightforward to select adequate natural strong motions in the catalogues available world-wide; buildings incorporating BISs possess periods of vibration which are generally higher than 2.0 s. As a result, distant and high-magnitude earthquakes are effective for base isolated buildings; nevertheless, such earthquakes are scarce in the seismic databases. The outcomes of the present study also demonstrate that simplified linear analyses tend to provide estimates of the response quantities, displacements of base isolators and base shear of the superstructure, which can be reliably employed at preliminary design stage. Spectral analysis results of the 3D model tend to match those of the SDOF systems, even for irregular superstructure, provided that modal mass participating ratios are greater than 85–90%. The results of spectral analyses on both SDOF and three-dimensional FEM envelope the outcomes of linear time histories.     

Dynamics of resilient-friction base isolator (R-FBI)

The Resilient-Friction Base Isolator (R-FBI) is composed of a set of flat rings which can slide on each other with a central rubber core and/or peripheral rubber cores. In this base isolator the interfacial friction force acts in parallel with the elastic force in the rubber. It combines the beneficial effect of friction damping with that of the resiliency of rubber. The rubber cores distribute the sliding displacement and velocity along the height of the R-FBI. They do not carry any vertical loads and are not vulcanized to the sliding rings. The system's analytical model and the computer experimental results for both horizontal and vertical components of recorded ground motions and various levels of friction and damping are presented. These results clearly demonstrate the R-FBI's potential as an effective aseismic base isolator.     

Accidental torsion due to overturning in nominally symmetric structures isolated with the FPS

Overturning of a structure causes variations in the normal loads of the isolators supporting that structure. For frictional isolators, such variation leads to changes in the frictional forces developed and, hence, in the strength distribution in plan. For frictional pendulum system (FPS) isolators, it also causes changes in the pendular action, i.e. in the stiffness distribution of the isolation interface. Therefore, although the structure is nominally symmetric it develops lateral–torsional coupling when it is subjected to two horizontal components of ground motion. This coupling is denoted herein as accidental torsion due to overturning, and its effect in the earthquake response of nominally symmetric structures is evaluated. Several parameters are identified to control this coupling, but the most important are the slenderness of the structure and the aspect ratio of the building plan. Results are presented in terms of the torsional amplification of the deformations of the isolation base and the interstorey deformations of the superstructure. The FPS system is modelled accurately by including true large deformations and the potential uplift and impact of the isolators. Impulsive as well as subduction‐type ground motions are considered in the analysis, but results show small differences between them. An upper bound for the mean‐plus‐one standard deviation values of the torsional amplifications for the base due to this accidental torsion is 5%. This implies that for design purposes of the isolation system such increase in deformations could probably be neglected. However, the same amplification for the interstorey deformations may be as large as 50%, depending on the torsional stiffness and slenderness of the superstructure, and should be considered in design. In general, such amplification of deformations decreases for torsionally stiffer structures and smaller height‐to‐base aspect ratios. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic isolation of cable‐stayed bridges for near‐field ground motions

This study examines the efficacy of using seismic isolation to favorably influence the seismic response of cable‐stayed bridges subjected to near‐field earthquake ground motions. In near‐field earthquake ground motions, large amplitude spectral accelerations can occur at long periods where many cable‐stayed bridges have significant structural response modes. This combination of factors can result in large tower accelerations and base shears. In this study, lead–rubber bearing seismic isolators were modeled for three cable‐stayed bridges, and three cases of isolation were examined for each bridge. The nine isolated bridge configurations, plus three non‐isolated configurations as references, were subjected to near‐field earthquake ground motions using three‐dimensional time‐history analyses. Introduction of a small amount of isolation is shown to be very beneficial in reducing seismic accelerations and forces while at the same time producing only a modest increase in the structural displacements. There is a low marginal benefit to continue to increase the amount of isolation by further lengthening the period of the structure because structural forces and accelerations reduce at a diminishing rate whereas structural displacements increase substantially. In virtually all cases the base shears in the isolated bridges were reduced by at least 50several instances by up to 80individual near‐field records showed large variability from one record to the next, with coefficients of variation about the mean as large as 50assessing the characteristics of near‐field ground motion for use in isolation design of cable‐stayed bridges. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic analysis of sliding structures with unsynchronized support motions

The dynamic analysis of sliding structures is complicated due to the presence of friction. Synchronization of the kinematics of all the isolation bearings is often granted to simplify the task. This, however, may lead to inaccurate prediction of the structural responses under certain circumstances. Stepped structures or continuous bridges with seismic isolation are notable examples where unsynchronized bearing motions are expected. In this paper, a logically simple and numerically efficient procedure is proposed to solve the dynamic problem of sliding systems with unsynchronized support motions. The motion equations for the sliding and non‐sliding modes of the isolated structure are unified into a single equation that is represented as a difference equation in a discrete‐time state‐space form and the base shear forces between the sliding interfaces can be determined through simple matrix algebraic analysis. The responses of the sliding structure can be obtained recursively from the discrete‐time version of the motion equation with constant integration time step even during the transitions between the non‐sliding and sliding phases. Therefore, both accuracy and efficiency in the dynamic analysis of the highly non‐linear system can be enhanced to a large extent. Rigorous assessment of seismic structures with unsynchronized support motions has been carried out for both a stepped structure and a continuous bridge. Effectiveness of friction pendulum bearings for earthquake protection of such structures has been verified. Moreover, evident unsynchronized sliding motions of the friction bearings have been observed, confirming the necessity to deal with each of the bearings independently in the analytical model. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.