• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.389-398
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• 2018

The seismic isolation system makes a structure isolated from ground motions to protect the structure from seismic events. Seismic isolation techniques have been implemented in full-scale buildings and bridges because of their simplicity, economic effectiveness, inherent stability and reliability. As for the responses of an isolated structure due to seismic events, it is well known that the most uncertain aspects are the seismic loading itself and structural properties. Due to the randomness of earthquakes and uncertainty of structures, seismic response distributions of an isolated structure are needed when evaluating the seismic fragility assessment (or probabilistic seismic safety assessment) of an isolated structure. Seismic response time histories are useful and often essential elements in its design or evaluation stage. Thus, a large number of non-linear dynamic analyses should be performed to evaluate the seismic performance of an isolated structure. However, it is a monumental task to gather the design or evaluation information of the isolated structure from too many seismic analyses, which is impractical. In this paper, a new methodology that can evaluate the seismic fragility assessment of an isolated structure is proposed by using stochastic response database, which is a device that can estimate the seismic response distributions of an isolated structure without any seismic response analyses. The seismic fragility assessment of the isolated nuclear power plant is performed using the proposed methodology. The proposed methodology is able to evaluate the seismic performance of isolated structures effectively and reduce the computational efforts tremendously.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.471-487
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• 2013

Performance of a prototype base isolated building located at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG) has been studied here. Two numbers of three storeyed single bay RCC framed prototype buildings were constructed for experimental purpose at IITG, one supported on conventional isolated footings and the other on a seismic isolation system, consisting of lead plug bearings. Force balance accelerometers and a 12 channel strong motion recorder have been used for recording building response during seismic events. Floor responses from these buildings show amplification for the conventional building while 60 to 70% reduction has been observed for the isolated building. Numerical models of both the buildings have been created in SAP2000 Nonlinear. Infill walls have been modeled as compression struts and have been incorporated into the 3D models using Gap elements. System identification of the recorded data has been carried out using Parametric State Space Modeling (N4SID) and the numerical models have been updated accordingly. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of base isolation systems in controlling seismic response of isolated buildings thereby leading to increased levels of seismic protection. The numerical models calibrated by relatively low level of earthquake shaking provides the starting point for modeling the non-linear response of the building when subjected to strong shaking.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.144-153
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• 1998

Base isolation is an innovative design strategy that provides a practical alternative for the seismic design of structures. Base isolators, mainly employed to isolate large structures subjected to earthquake ground excitations and to rehabilitate structures damaged by past earthquakes, deflect and absorb the seismic energy horizontally transmitted to the structures. This study demonstrates that the base isolation system may offer effective performance for bridges during severe seismic events through shaking table tests. Two base isolation system using laminated rubber bearings with and without hydraulic dampers are tested. The test results strongly show that the laminated rubber bearings cause the natural period of the bridge structure increased considerably, which results in the deck acceleration and the shear forces on the piers reduced significantly. The results also demonstrate that the hydraulic dampers enhance the system's capacity in dissipating energy to reduce the relative displacement between the bridge deck and the pier.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1077-1099
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• 2016

One of the main shortcomings in the current passive base isolation system is lack of adaptability. The recent research and development of a novel adaptive seismic isolator based on magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) material has created an opportunity to add adaptability to base isolation systems for civil structures. The new MRE based base isolator is able to significantly alter its shear modulus or lateral stiffness with the applied magnetic field or electric current, which makes it a competitive candidate to develop an adaptive base isolation system. This paper aims at exploring suitable control algorithms for such adaptive base isolation system by developing a close-loop semi-active control system for a building structure equipped with MRE base isolators. The MRE base isolator is simulated by a numerical model derived from experimental characterization based on the Bouc-Wen Model, which is able to describe the force-displacement response of the device accurately. The parameters of Bouc-Wen Model such as the stiffness and the damping coefficients are described as functions of the applied current. The state-space model is built by analyzing the dynamic property of the structure embedded with MRE base isolators. A Lyapunov-based controller is designed to adaptively vary the current applied to MRE base isolator to suppress the quake-induced vibrations. The proposed control method is applied to a widely used benchmark base-isolated structure by numerical simulation. The performance of the adaptive base isolation system was evaluated through comparison with optimal passive base isolation system and a passive base isolation system with optimized base shear. It is concluded that the adaptive base isolation system with proposed Lyapunov-based semi-active control surpasses the performance of other two passive systems in protecting the civil structures under seismic events.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.553-560
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• 2001

To substantiate the application of LRB(Laminated Rubber Bearing) to the seismic isolation system, it is necessary to develop a seismic analysis method considering the non-linear behavior of LRBs, which may significantly affect the seismic responses. In this paper, seismic analyses and shaking table tests are carried out for a seismically isolated structure using four LRBs. The parameter equations of seismic isolation frequency are obtained from the shaking table tests and the quasi-static tests of LRB itself to investigate the effects of the LRB characteristics in the prediction of maximum peak acceleration responses by analysis. From the comparison of the maximum peak acceleration responses obtained from numerical analyses and experiments, it is verified that the horizontal stiffness variations of LRB should be carefully considered in seismic analysis to obtain more accurate results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.499-526
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• 2013

Seismic isolation is an effective method for the protection of buildings and their contents during strong earthquakes. This research work aims to assess the appropriateness of the linear and nonlinear models that can be used in the analysis of typical low-rise base isolated steel buildings, taking into account the inherent nonlinearities of the isolation system as well as the potential nonlinearities of the superstructure in case of strong ground motions. The accuracy of the linearization of the isolator properties according to Eurocode 8 is evaluated comparatively with the corresponding response that can be obtained through the nonlinear hysteretic Bouc-Wen constitutive model. The suitability of the linearized model in the determination of the size of the required seismic gap is assessed, under various earthquake intensities, considering relevant methods that are provided by building codes. Furthermore, the validity of the common assumption of elastic behavior for the superstructure is explored and the alteration of the structural response due to the inelastic deformations of the superstructure as a consequence of potential collision to the restraining moat wall is studied. The usage of a nonlinear model for the isolation system is found to be necessary in order to achieve a sufficiently accurate assessment of the structural response and a reliable estimation of the required width of the provided seismic gap. Moreover, the simulations reveal that the superstructure's inelasticity should be taken into account, especially if the response of the structure under high magnitude earthquakes is investigated. The consideration of the inelasticity of the superstructure is also recommended in studies of structural collision of seismically isolated structures to the surrounding moat wall, since it affects the response.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.445-452
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• 2005

The seismic characteristics with Friction Pendulum System have been studied using a shaking table system. In this study, we made two kind of floor system (Type I, Type II) and several seismic tests with and without isolation system were conducted to evaluate floor isolation effectiveness of Friction Pendulum System. Both type have showed large reduction effectiveness in acceleration, response spectra but Type II have showed lower acceleration and lower first mode in response spectra, compared to type I. On the basis of test results and consideration of application, it is found that type II is more suitable for floor model of main control room of Nuclear Power Plant.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-52
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• 2019

Despite its success and wide application, base isolation system has been challenged for its passive nature, i.e., incapable of working with versatile external loadings. This is particularly exaggerated during near-source earthquakes and earthquakes with dominate low-frequency components. To address this issue, many efforts have been explored, including active base isolation system and hybrid base isolation system (with added controllable damping). Active base isolation system requires extra energy input which is not economical and the power supply may not be available during earthquakes. Although with tunable energy dissipation ability, hybrid base isolation systems are not able to alter its fundamental natural frequency to cope with varying external loadings. This paper reports an overview of new adventure with aim to develop adaptive base isolation system with controllable stiffness (thus adaptive natural frequency). With assistance of the feedback control system and the use of smart material technology, the proposed smart base isolation system is able to realize real-time decoupling of external loading and hence provides effective seismic protection against different types of earthquakes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2024

To assess the seismic performance of Plate-Shell Integrated Concrete Liquid-Storage Structure (PSICLSS), a scaled test model was constructed. This model incorporated a hybrid isolation system, which combined shape memory alloy (SMA), lead-cored rubber isolation bearing (LRB) and sliding isolation bearing (SB). By conducting shaking table test, the dynamic responses of both non-isolated and hybrid-isolated PSICLSS were analyzed. The results show that the hybrid isolation system can effectively reduce the acceleration and displacement responses of the structure. However, it also results in an increase in local hydrodynamic pressure and liquid sloshing height. Under extreme earthquake action, the displacement of isolation layer is small. When vertical ground motion is taken into account, the shock absorption rate of horizontal acceleration decreases. The peak hydrodynamic pressure increases significantly, and the peak hydrodynamic pressure position also changes. The maximum displacement of isolation layer increases, the residual displacement decreases.