• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2024

Earthquakes can lead to substantial damage to buildings, with long-period ground motion being particularly destructive. The design of high-performance building structures has become a prominent focus of research. The double-story isolated structure is a novel type of isolated structure developed from base isolated structure. To delve deeper into the building performance of double-story isolated structures, the double-story isolated structure was constructed with the upper isolated layer located in different layers, alongside a base isolated structure for comparative analysis. Nonlinear elastoplastic analyses were conducted on these structures using different ground motion inputs, including ordinary ground motion, near-field impulsive ground motion, and far-field harmonic ground motion. The results demonstrate that the double-story isolated structure can extend the structural period further than the base isolated structure under three types of ground motions. The double-story isolated structure exhibits lower base shear, inter-story displacement, base isolated layer displacement, story shear, and maximum acceleration of the top layer, compared to the base isolated structure. In addition, the double-story isolated structure generates fewer plastic hinges in the frame, causes less damage to the core tube, and experiences smaller overturning moments, demonstrating excellent resistance to overturning and a shock-absorbing effect. As the upper isolated layer is positioned higher, the compressive stress on the isolated bearings of the upper isolated layer in the double-story isolated structure gradually decreases. Moreover, the compressive stress on the isolated bearings of the base isolated layer is lower compared to that of the base isolated structure. However, the shock-absorbing capacity of the double-story isolated structure is significantly increased when the upper isolated layer is located in the middle and lower section. Notably, in regions exposed to long-period ground motion, a double-story isolated structure can experience greater seismic response and reduced shock-absorbing capacity, which may be detrimental to the structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.401-413
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• 2019

The concept of base isolation for equipment is well known. Its application in buildings and structures is rather challenging. Introduction of horizontal flexibility at the base helps in proper energy dissipation at the base level thus reducing the seismic demand of the super structure to be considered during design. The present study shows the results of a series of numerical simulation studies on seismic responses of secondary system (SS) housed in non-isolated and base-isolated primary structures (PS) including equipment-structure interactions. For this study the primary structure consists of two similar single bay three-store reinforced cement concrete (RCC) Frame building, one non-isolated with conventional foundation and another base isolated with Lead plug bearings (LPB) constructed at IIT Guwahati, while the secondary system is modeled as a steel frame. Time period of the base isolated building is higher than the fixed building. Due to the presence of isolator, Acceleration response is significantly reduced in both (X and Y) direction of Building. It have been found that when compared to fixed base building, the base isolated building gives better performance in high seismic prone areas.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.561-572
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• 2017

Seismic base isolation has been accepted as one of the most popular design procedures to protect important structures against earthquakes. However, due to lack of information and experimental data the application of base isolation is quite limited to nuclear power plant (NPP) industry. Moreover, the effects of inelastic behavior of soil beneath base-isolated NPP have raised questions to the effectiveness of isolation device. This study applies the wavelet analysis to investigate the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the seismic response of a base-isolated NPP structure. To evaluate the SSI effects, the NPP structure is modelled as a lumped mass stick model and combined with a soil model using the concept of cone models. The lead rubber bearing (LRB) base isolator is used to adopt the base isolation system. The shear wave velocity of soil is varied to reflect the real rock site conditions of structure. The comparison between seismic performance of isolated structure and non-isolated structure has drawn. The results show that the wavelet analysis proves to be an efficient tool to evaluate the SSI effects on the seismic response of base-isolated structure and the seismic performance of base-isolated NPP is not sensitive to the effects in this case.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.399-415
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• 2023

In this study, we investigate the use of a negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system to improve the performance of a base-isolated structure. The negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system consists of a tuned inerter damper connected in parallel with a negative stiffness element. To find the optimal parameters for the base-isolated structure with negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system, we develop an optimization method based on performance criteria. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the superstructure acceleration response ratio, while ensuring that the base displacement response ratio remains below a specified target value. We evaluate the proposed method by conducting numerical analyses on an eight-story building. The structure is modeled using both a simplified 3-degree-of-freedom system and a more detailed story-by-story shear-beam model. Lastly, a comparative analysis using time history analysis is performed to compare the performance of the base-isolated structure with negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system with that of the base-isolated structure and base-isolated structure with tuned inerter damper systems. The results obtained from the comparative analysis show that the negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system outperforms the tuned inerter damper system in reducing the dynamic seismic response of the base-isolated structure. Overall, this study demonstrates that the negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system can effectively enhance the performance of base-isolated structures, providing improved seismic response reduction compared to other systems.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.461-475
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• 2013

A new experimental system of base-isolated structures is proposed. There are two kinds of dampers usually used in the base-isolated buildings, one is a viscous-type damper and the other is an elastic-plastic hysteretic-type damper. The base-isolated structure with a viscous damper and that with an elastic-plastic hysteretic damper are compared in this paper. The viscous damper is modeled by a mini piston and the elastic-plastic hysteretic damper is modeled by a low yield-point steel. The capacity of both dampers is determined so that the dissipated energies are equivalent at a specified deformation. When the capacity of both dampers is determined according to this criterion, it is shown that the response of the base-isolated structure with the elastic-plastic hysteretic damper is larger than that with the viscous damper. This characteristic is demonstrated through the comparison of the bound of the aspect ratio. It is shown that the bound of aspect ratio for the base-isolated structure with the elastic-plastic hysteretic damper is generally smaller than that with the viscous damper. When the base-isolated structure is subjected to long-duration input, the mechanical property of the elastic-plastic hysteretic damper deteriorates and the response of the base-isolated structure including that damper becomes larger than that with the viscous damper. The effect of this change of material properties on the response of the base-isolated structure is also investigated.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2024

The traditional double story isolated structure is a derivative of the base isolated and inter-story isolated structures, while the new double story isolated structure represents a novel variation derived from the traditional double story isolated structure. In order to investigate the seismic response of the new double story isolated structure, a comprehensive structural model was developed. Concurrently, models for the basic fixed, base isolated, inter-story isolated, and traditional double story isolated structures were also established for comparative analysis. The nonlinear dynamic time-history response of the new double story isolated structure under rare earthquake excitations was analyzed. The findings of the study reveal that, in comparison to the basic fixed structure, the new double story isolated structure exhibits superior performance across all evaluated aspects. Furthermore, when compared to the base isolated and inter-story isolated structures, the new double story isolated structure demonstrates significant reductions in inter-story shear force, top acceleration, and inter-frame displacement. The horizontal displacement of the new double story isolated structure is primarily localized within the two isolation layers, effectively dissipating the majority of input seismic energy. In contrast to the traditional double story isolated structure, the new design minimizes displacements within the inter-isolation layer situated in the central part of the frame, as well as mitigates the overturning forces acting on the lower frame column. Consequently, this design ensures the structural integrity of the core tube, thereby preventing potential collapse and structural damage.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.165-170
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• 2019

The structural damage caused by earthquake to the upper structure of seismic base-isolated system can be suppressed effectively because it is designed to concentrate the input energy on the seismic isolation floor. Further, the response acceleration of seismic base-isolated system can be greatly reduced compared to the seismic structure because of the long period, which means that the design shear force of the seismic base-isolated system can be reduced appropriately. However, when the design shear force is determined to be reduced, the design stiffness will decrease, and the response acceleration will increase oppositely. Therefore, for finding the extent to which the design shear force of the upper structure can be reduced, this paper considered the seismic base-isolated structure as the analytical model and proposed the design shear force reduction factor of the base-isolated structure through the dynamic response analysis, while considering the decrement effect of response acceleration. The research result shows that the response acceleration of the isolated the upper structure can be reduced by 50%~70% of the seismic structure under the same design conditions, and the design shear force can be reduced by up to 40%. By increasing the design stiffness over to 1.8 times of the original design value, the design shear force can be reduced to the same extent as the response acceleration can be reduced compared to the seismic structure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.161-174
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• 2018

The present study investigates the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects on the seismic performance of smart base-isolated structures. The adopted control algorithm for tuning the control force plays a key role in successful implementation of such structures; however, in most studied carried out in the literature, these algorithms are designed without considering the SSI effect. Considering the SSI effects, a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller is employed to seismic control of a smart base-isolated structure. A particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to tune the gain matrix of the controller in both cases without and with SSI effects. In order to conduct a parametric study, three types of soil, three well-known earthquakes and a vast range of period of the superstructure are considered for assessment the SSI effects on seismic control process of the smart-base isolated structure. The adopted controller is able to make a significant reduction in base displacement. However, any attempt to decrease the maximum base displacement results in slight increasing in superstructure accelerations. The maximum and RMS base displacements of the smart base-isolated structures in the case of considering SSI effects are more than the corresponding responses in the case of ignoring SSI effects. Overall, it is also observed that the maximum and RMS base displacements of the structure are increased by increasing the natural period of the superstructure. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the maximum and RMS superstructure accelerations are significant influenced by the frequency content of earthquake excitations and the natural frequency of the superstructure. The results show that the design of the controller is very influenced by the SSI effects. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that the ignoring the SSI effect provides an unfavorable control system, which may lead to decline in the seismic performance of the smart-base isolated structure including the SSI effects.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.531-543
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• 2023

Base isolation is one of the most widely implemented and well-known technique to reduce structural vibration and damages during an earthquake. However, while the base-isolated structure reduces storey drift significantly, it also increases the base drifts causing many practical problems. This study proposes the use of Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) wires for the reduction in base drift while controlling the overall structure vibrations. A multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) structure along with base isolators and Shape-Memory-Alloys (SMA) wires in diagonal is tested experimentally and analytically. The isolation bearing considered in this study consists of laminates of steel and silicon rubber. The performance of the proposed structure is evaluated and studied under different loadings including harmonic loading and seismic excitation. To assess the seismic performance of the proposed structure, shake table tests are conducted on base-isolated MDOF frame structure incorporating SMA wires, which is subjected to incremental harmonic and historic seismic loadings. Root mean square acceleration, displacement and drift are analyzed and discussed in detail for each story. To better understand the structure response, the percentage reduction of displacement is also determined for each story. The result shows that the reduction in the response of the proposed structure is much better than conventional base-isolated structure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.549-560
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• 2022

The optimum damping and tuning frequency ratio of the tuned mass damper-inerter (TMDI) for the base-isolated structure is obtained using the numerical searching technique under stationary white-noise and filtered white-noise earthquake excitation. The minimization of the isolated structure's mean-square relative displacement and absolute acceleration, as well as the maximization of the energy dissipation index, were chosen as the criteria for optimality. Using a curve-fitting technique, explicit formulae for TMDI damping and tuning frequency for white-noise excitation are then derived. The proposed empirical expressions for TMDI parameters are found to have a negligible error, making them useful for the effective design of base-isolated structures. The effectiveness of TMDI and its optimum parameters are influenced by the soil condition and isolation frequency, according to the comparison made of the optimized parameters and response with different soil profiles. The effectiveness of an optimally designed TMDI in controlling the displacement and acceleration response of the flexible isolated structure under real and pulse-type earthquakes is also observed and found to be increased as the inertance mass ratio increases.