Investigation of the Influence of The Story Drift Angle of Buildings Caused by Earthquakes on Elevators

In recent years, as buildings have become taller and taller, the continued usability of elevators after earthquakes has become an important issue. Conventional seismic design of elevators has focused mainly on inertial forces caused by earthquakes, but the influence of the story drift angle of buildings on elevator behavior has been unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to clarify the influence of the story drift angle of a building caused by an earthquake on the behavior of elevators through an experiment. The experiment specimens were the counterweight, guide rails, and surrounding components selected from the actual elevator components and mounted on a one-story steel pin frame. A static experiment was conducted using a hydraulic jack to apply force to the specimen by imposing the story drift angle on the steel frame. During the experiment, the reaction force at the end of the jack was monitored, and the displacement and strain of the counterweight, guide rails, and surrounding components were measured. The results of the experiments in one direction showed that even when the elevator components were subjected to a larger story drift angle than assumed in the seismic design of the building, no damage occurred that could lead to fallout.