• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.173-190
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• 2011

As a practical and effective seismic resisting technology, the base isolation system has seen extensive applications in buildings and bridges. However, a few problems associated with conventional lead-rubber bearings have been identified after historical strong earthquakes, e.g., excessive permanent deformations of bearings and potential unseating of bridge decks. Recently the applications of shape memory alloys (SMA) have received growing interest in the area of seismic response mitigation. As a result, a variety of SMA-based base isolators have been developed. These novel isolators often lead to minimal permanent deformations due to the self-centering feature of SMA materials. However, a rational design approach is still missing because of the fact that conventional design method cannot be directly applied to these novel devices. In light of this limitation, a displacement-based design approach for highway bridges with SMA isolators is proposed in this paper. Nonlinear response spectra, derived from typical hysteretic models for SMA, are employed in the design procedure. SMA isolators and bridge piers are designed according to the prescribed performance objectives. A prototype reinforced concrete (RC) highway bridge is designed using the proposed design approach. Nonlinear dynamic analyses for different seismic intensity levels are carried out using a computer program called "OpenSees". The efficacy of the displacement-based design approach is validated by numerical simulations. Results indicate that a properly designed RC highway bridge with novel SMA isolators may achieve minor damage and minimal residual deformations under frequent and rare earthquakes. Nonlinear static analysis is also carried out to investigate the failure mechanism and the self-centering ability of the designed highway bridge.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.89-102
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• 2020

Shape memory alloy (SMA)-based Superelasticity-assisted Slider (SSS) is proposed as an engineering solution to practically exploit the well-accepted advantages of both sliding isolation and SMA-based recentering. Self-centering capability in SSS is provided by austenitic SMA cables (or wire ropes), recently attracting a lot of interest and attention in earthquake engineering and seismic isolation. The cables are arranged in various novel and conventional configurations to make SSS versatile for aseismic design and retrofit of structures. All the configurations are detailed with thorough technical drawings. It is shown that SSS is applicable without the need for Isolation Units (IUs). IUs, at the same time, are devised for industrialized applications. The proof-of-concept study is carried out through the examination of mechanical behavior in all the alternative configurations. Force-displacement relations are determined. Isolation capabilities are predicted based on the decreases in seismic demands, estimated by the increases in effective periods and equivalent damping ratios. Restoring forces normalized relative to resisting forces are assessed as the criteria for self-centering capabilities. Lengths of SMA cables required in each configuration are calculated to assess the cost and practicality. Practical implementation is realized by setting up a small-scale IU. The effectiveness of SSS under seismic actions is evaluated using an innovative computer model and compared to those of well-known Isolation Systems (ISs) protecting a reference building. Comparisons show that SSS seems to be an effective IS and suitable for earthquake protection of both structural and non-structural elements. Further research aimed at additional validation of the system are outlined.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.417-434
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• 2022

In this work, a review of mechanical metamaterials and seismic protection systems that use them is carried out, focusing on passive protection systems. During the last years, a wide variety of classical systems of seismic protection have demonstrated to be an effective and practical way of reducing the seismic vulnerability of buildings, maintaining their health and structural integrity. However, with the emergence of metamaterials, which allow obtaining uncommon mechanical properties, new procedures and devices with high performance have been developed, reducing the seismic risk through novel approaches such as: seismic shields and the redirection of seismic waves; the use of stop band gaps and the construction of buried mass resonators; the design of pentamodal base isolators. These ideas are impacting traditional areas of structural engineering such as the design and building of highly efficient base isolation systems. In this work, recent advances in new seismic protection technologies and researches that integrate mechanical metamaterials are presented. A complete bibliometric analysis was carried out to identify and classify relevant authors and works related with passive seismic protection system based on mechanical metamaterial (pSPSmMMs). Finally, possible future scenarios for study and development of seismic isolators based on mechanical metamaterials are shown, identifying the relevant topics that have not yet been explored, as well as those with the greatest potential for future application.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.397-428
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• 2013

This paper examines whether the "effective period" of bilinear isolation systems, as defined invariably in most current design codes, expresses in reality the period of vibration that appears in the horizontal axis of the design response spectrum. Starting with the free vibration response, the study proceeds with a comprehensive parametric analysis of the forced vibration response of a wide collection of bilinear isolation systems subjected to pulse and seismic excitations. The study employs Fourier and Wavelet analysis together with a powerful time domain identification method for linear systems known as the Prediction Error Method. When the response history of the bilinear system exhibits a coherent oscillatory trace with a narrow frequency band as in the case of free vibration or forced vibration response from most pulselike excitations, the paper shows that the "effective period" = $T_{eff}$ of the bilinear isolation system is a dependable estimate of its vibration period; nevertheless, the period associated with the second slope of the bilinear system = $T_2$ is an even better approximation regardless the value of the dimensionless strength,$Q/(K_2u_y)=1/{\alpha}-1$, of the system. As the frequency content of the excitation widens and the intensity of the acceleration response history fluctuates more randomly, the paper reveals that the computed vibration period of the systems exhibits appreciably scattering from the computed mean value. This suggests that for several earthquake excitations the mild nonlinearities of the bilinear isolation system dominate the response and the expectation of the design codes to identify a "linear" vibration period has a marginal engineering merit.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.115-122
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• 1998

Earthquake damage civil engineering structures every year in the world and bridges are no exception. Bridge structures have proven to be vulnerable to earthquake, sustaining damage to substructure and foundation and being totally destroys as superstructures collapse from their supporting elements. The poor seismic performance of bridge structures is surprising in view of the substantial advance made in design and construction for vertical load. Recently, bridge spans have been pushed further than before, alignment has become increasingly complex and aesthetic requirement have been become more demanding. To reduce the seismic force and to improve the safety of the advanced bridges, the bridge bearings which are the substructures and foundations and their connections to the superstructure become more important and critical elements. Therefore, the functions about seismic devices to be using as bridge bearing are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.628-635
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• 2005

The earthquake-resistant structural systems have to ensure the sufficient stiffness and ductility for the stability For those purposes, recently, the seismic isolation system to reduce earthquake energy has been used. So, it is necessary to examine the characteristics of dynamic behavior of spatial structures governed by higher modes rather than lower modes different from the cases of high rise buildings. The objectives of this paper are to inspect the efficiency of the equivalent model method according to the various earthquake loads and half-open angles. Moreover it is examined the dynamic behaviors according to change the mass and the stiffness of sub-structures as a fundamental study of performance design for the spatial structures. Finally, seismic isolation system is applied to boundary parts of roof system and sub-structure to obtain the target performance.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2019

The objective of this study is to investigate the earthquake response for the design of 100m spanned single-layer lattice dome. The plastic hinge analysis and eigenvalue buckling analysis are performed to estimate the ultimate load of single-layered lattice domes under vertical loads. In order to ensure the stability of lattice domes, it is investigated for the plastic hinge progressive status by the pushover increment analysis considering the elasto-plastic connection. One of the most effective methods to reduce the earthquake response of large span domes is to install the LRB isolation system of a dome. The authors discuss the reducing effect for the earthquake dynamic response of 100m spanned single-layered lattice domes. The LRB seismic isolation system can greatly reduce the dynamic response of lattice domes for the horizontal and vertical earthquake ground motion.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.371-378
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• 2002

The design concepts using vibration reduction techniques, or structural control, have been proposed recently to protect infrastructure against earthquakes. The magnetorheological(MR) fluid damper is one of the most promising new devices for structural vibration reduction because of its mechanical simplicity, high dynamic range, low power requirement, large force capacity and robustness. In this study, the seismic performance of MR devices are compared with that of NZ systems as an attempt to provide some data for improving seismic design techniques applied to structures. For nonlinear time domain analysis of a base isolation system, a six-story building model is considered as a numerical example. The ground acceleration data of El Centre 1940, Mexico City 1985 and Kobe 1995 earthquakes are used as seismic excitations. The results show that MR damper systems for outperform NZ systems in wide-ranging seismic excitations with respect to intensity and period characteristics.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.465-474
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• 2001

Base Isolation system is an effective design strategy that provides a practical substitute for the seismic design of bridge. In this study, the dynamic tests was performed on HDB (Hysteretic Damping Bearing) and Dynapot. Then, the dynamic analysis was carried out for a bridge using the experimental results to estimate the seismic performance of bearings. Analysis for bridge was performed for four types of earthquake loadings. The result of dynamic test and theoretical analysis indicate that the performance of HDB and Dynapot is appropriate for the earthquake loading.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.105-108
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• 2008

For the early seismic isolation design in Korea, foreign products of isolation bearings were used. But these days, the application of domestic products of isolation bearings is increasing. However various experimental studies can be found very seldom on the extreme and lonr term behaviors of isolation bearings. In this study, we considered the laminated rubber type isolation bearings that have many application cases in Korea and we evaluated their shear strength, long term characteristics such as aging and creep affecting shear strength of bearings in long term period. For the reality of experiments, fabricated isolation bearing specimens are designed for a real structure and shear loading was applied under design compressive loads. To evaluated aging effect, the specimens were exposed to high temperature environment for certain period and their shear properties were measured to compare with their original values. Also we measured creep amount of isolation bearings under constant compressive load for 1,000 hours and estimated creep amount after 60 years compatible with general life cycle of bridges.