• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.329-337
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• 2006

This paper illustrates an analytical investigation of the vibration parameters of buildings on sliding seismic isolation bearings with elastic limiters of the relative displacement. The installation scheme of sliding bearings and elastic limiters for the separate unit of a 4 storey hospital building with brick walls is designed. The analysis of the vibrations of the hospital building is conducted for harmonic base excitation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1101-1121
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• 2016

Base isolation, one of the popular seismic protection approaches proven to be effective in practical applications, has been widely applied worldwide during the past few decades. As the techniques mature, it has been recognised that, the biggest issue faced in base isolation technique is the challenge of great base displacement demand, which leads to the potential of overturning of the structure, instability and permanent damage of the isolators. Meanwhile, drain, ventilation and regular maintenance at the base isolation level are quite difficult and rather time- and fund- consuming, especially in the highly populated areas. To address these challenges, a number of efforts have been dedicated to propose new isolation systems, including segmental building, additional storey isolation (ASI) and mid-storey isolation system, etc. However, such techniques have their own flaws, among which whipping effect is the most obvious one. Moreover, due to their inherent passive nature, all these techniques, including traditional base isolation system, show incapability to cope with the unpredictable and diverse nature of earthquakes. The solution for the aforementioned challenge is to develop an innovative vibration isolation system to realise variable structural stiffness to maximise the adaptability and controllability of the system. Recently, advances on the development of an adaptive magneto-rheological elastomer (MRE) vibration isolator has enlightened the development of adaptive base isolation systems due to its ability to alter stiffness by changing applied electrical current. In this study, an innovative semi-active storey isolation system inserting such novel MRE isolators between each floor is proposed. The stiffness of each level in the proposed isolation system can thus be changed according to characteristics of the MRE isolators. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm type II (NSGA-II) with dynamic crowding distance (DCD) is utilised for the optimisation of the parameters at isolation level in the system. Extensive comparative simulation studies have been conducted using 5-storey benchmark model to evaluate the performance of the proposed isolation system under different earthquake excitations. Simulation results compare the seismic responses of bare building, building with passive controlled MRE base isolation system, building with passive-controlled MRE storey isolation system and building with optimised storey isolation system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.425-434
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• 2019

The most effective passive vibration control and seismic resistance options in a reinforced concrete (RC) high-rise building (HRB) are the base isolation and the tuned mass damper (TMD) system. Many options, which may be suitable or not for different soil types, with different types of bearing systems, like rubber isolator, friction pendulum isolator and tension/compression isolator, are investigated to resist the base straining actions under five different earthquakes. TMD resists the seismic response, as a control system, by reducing top displacement or the total movement of the structure. Base isolation and TMDs work under seismic load in a different way, so the combination between base isolation and TMDs will reduce the harmful effect of the earthquakes in an effective and systematic way. In this paper, a comprehensive study of the combination of TMDs with three different base-isolator types for three different soil types and under five different earthquakes is conducted. The seismic response results under five different earthquakes of the studied nine RC HRB models (depicted by the top displacement, base shear force and base bending moment) are compared to show the most suitable hybrid passive vibration control system for three different soil types.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2017

This paper describes some of the challenges for structural design of a mid-story seismic isolated high-rise building, which is located near Tokyo station, completed in 2015. The building is a mixed-use complex and encompasses three volumes: one substructure including basement and lower floors, and a pair of seismic isolated superstructures on the substructure. One is a 136.5m high Main Tower (office use), and the other is a 98.5 m high South Tower (hotel use). The seismic isolation systems are arranged in the $3^{rd}$ floor of the Main Tower and $5^{th}$ floor of the South Tower, so that we call this isolation system as the mid-story seismic isolation. The primary goal of the structural design of this building was to secure high seismic safety against the largest earthquake expected in Tokyo. We adopted optimal seismic isolation equipment simulated by dynamic analysis to minimize building damage. On the other hand, wind-induced vibration of a seismic isolated high-rise building tends to be excited. To reduce the vibration, the following strategies were adopted respectively. In the Main Tower with a large wind receiving area, we adopted a mechanism that locks oil dampers at the isolation level during strong wind. In the South Tower, two tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are installed at the top of the building to control the vibration. In addition, our paper will also report the building performance evaluated for wind and seismic observation after completion of the building. In 2016, an earthquake of seismic intensity 3 (JMA scale) occurred twice in Tokyo. The acceleration reduction rate of the seismic isolation level due to these earthquakes was approximately 30 to 60%. These are also verified by dynamic analysis using observed acceleration data. Also, in April 2016, a strong wind exceeding the speed of 25m/s occurred in Tokyo. On the basis of the record at the strong wind, we confirmed that the locking mechanism of oil damper worked as designed.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.49-56
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• 2010

In this study, the control performance of a smart top-story isolation system for tall buildings subjected to wind excitation was investigated. To this end, a 77-story tall building structure was employed and wind loads obtained from wind tunnel test were used for numerical simulations. The top-story of an example structure is separated from the main structure by a smart base isolation system composed of friction pendulum systems (FPS) and MR dampers. The primary purpose of the smart top-story isolation system is to mitigate the dynamic responses of the main structure, but the excessive movement of the isolated top story may cause the unstableness of the building structure. Therefore, the skyhook control algorithm was used to effectively reduce both responses of the isolated top story and the main structure. The control performance of the proposed smart top-story isolation system was investigated in comparison with that of the passive top-story isolation system. It has been shown from numerical simulation results that the smart top-story isolation system can effectively reduce wind-induced responses of the example building structure compared to the passive top-story isolation system with reduction of the top-story movement.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2023

Seismic isolation and vibration control techniques have been developed and put into practical use by challenging researchers and engineers worldwide since the latter half of the 20th century, and after more than 40 years, they are now used in thousands of buildings, private residences, highways in many seismic areas in the world. Seismic isolation and vibration control structures can keep the structures undamaged even in a major earthquake and realize continuous occupancy. This performance has come to be recognized not only by engineers but also by ordinary people, becoming indispensable for the formation of a resilient society. However, the dynamic characteristics of seismically isolated bearings, the key elements, are highly dependent on the size effect and rate-of-loading, especially under extreme loading conditions. Therefore, confirming the actual properties and performance of these bearings with full-scale specimens under prescribed dynamic loading protocols is essential. The number of testing facilities with such capacity is still limited and even though the existing labs in the US, China, Taiwan, Italy, etc. are conducting these tests, their dynamic loading test setups are subjected to friction generated by the large vertical loads and inertial force of the heavy table which affect the accuracy of measured forces. To solve this problem, the authors have proposed a direct reaction force measuring system that can eliminate the effects of friction and inertia forces, and a seismic isolation testing facility with the proposed system (E-isolation) will be completed on March 2023 in Japan. This test facility is designed to conduct not only dynamic loading tests of seismic isolation bearings and dampers but also to perform hybrid simulations of seismically isolated structures. In this paper, design details and the realization of this system into an actual dynamic testing facility are presented and the outcomes are discussed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.281-300
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• 2014

This study proposes a scheme to design control parameters for a data center facility with a vibration controller on its top floor and a secondary isolation device with its own vibration controller designed to protect vibration-sensitive computer equipment. The aim is to reduce the effects of acceleration and drift from an earthquake on computer servers placed on the isolation device that must operate during a seismic event. A linear elastic model is constructed and the evaluation function of the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control is formulated. The relationship between the control parameters and the responses is examined, and based on the observations, a control parameter design scheme is constructed to reduce the responses of both the building and the computer server effectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.45-51
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• 2022

This paper focuses on a recently proposed asymmetric base-isolation coupling control system (ABiCS) for the vibration control of adjacent twin buildings. The ABiCS consists of inter-story diagonal dampers, a connecting damper between the two buildings, and a seismic isolation device at the base floor of one building. To investigate the control characteristics of ABiCS, a parametric study was performed by numerically simulating the 20-story twin buildings. In the parametric study, the control capacities of the inter-story diagonal dampers, connecting damper, and seismic isolation device were considered as varying parameters. The parametric study results indicate that the connecting damper between the two buildings reduces the responses of both buildings only at optimal or near-optimal capacity. In addition, adjusting the stiffness of the base isolation is found to be the most effective method for improving seismic performance and achieving cost-effectiveness. Accordingly, we presented a scenario-based performance improvement approach in which reducing the stiffness of the base isolation device could be an effective technique to improve the seismic performance of both buildings. However, note that checking the maximum allowable displacement of the base isolation device is essential.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.273-280
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• 1992

The prediction of vibration response of floor is necessary in order to check whether the floor vibration level will satisfy the allowable vibration standard of precise machinery such as electronic microscopes in semiconductor manufacturing plant before the installation of various neighboring equipment facility. In conventional vibration isolation, we were mainly interested in minimization of vibration transmissibility and stabilization of vibration isolation system. But in order to predict vibration response of floor, it is necessary to know exciting force of equipment installed on the floor and the mobility of the floor. We measured the exciting force of the dropped mass assumed as equipment and the mobility of some practical building floor using large impact hammer. And from this we predicted the vibration response of floor on which the mass dropped. This predicted vibration response of floor is compared with measured vibration response. Through upper procedure, we examined the possibility of predicting vibration response of floor from the information of exciting force of equipment and the mobility of floor.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.33-40
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• 2019

A seismic isolation system is one of the most effective control devices used for mitigating the structural responses due to earthquake loads. This system is generally used as a type of base isolation system for low- and mid-rise building structures. If the base isolation technique is applied to high-rise buildings, a lot of problems may be induced such as the movement of isolation bearings during severe wind loads, the stability problem of bearings under large compression forces. Therefore, a mid-story isolation system was proposed for seismic protection of high-rise buildings. Residence-commerce complex buildings in Korea have vertical irregularity because shear wall type and frame type structures are vertically connected. This problem can be also solved by the mid-story isolation system. An effective analytical method using super elements and substructures was proposed in this study. This method was used to investigate control performance of mid-story isolation system for residence-commerce complex buildings subjected to seismic loads. Based on numerical analyses, it was shown that the mid-story isolation system can effectively reduce seismic responses of residence-commerce complex tall buildings.