• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.701-723
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• 2015

Friction isolators are one of the most important types of bearings used to mitigate damages of earthquakes. The adaptive behavior of these isolators allows them to achieve multiple levels of performances and predictable seismic behavior during different earthquake hazard levels. There are three main types of friction isolators. The first generation with one sliding surface is known as Friction Pendulum System (FPS) isolators. The double concave friction pendulum (DCFP) with two sliding surfaces is an advanced form of FPS, and the third one, with fully adaptive behavior, is named as triple concave friction pendulum (TCFP). The current study has been conducted to investigate and compare seismic responses of these three types of isolators. The structure is idealized as a two-dimensional single degree of freedom (SDOF) resting on isolators. The coupled differential equations of motion are derived and solved using state space formulation. Seismic responses of isolated structures using each one of these isolators are investigated under seven near fault earthquake motions. The peak values of bearing displacement and base shear are studied employing the variation of essential parameters such as superstructure period, effective isolation period and effective damping of isolator. The results demonstrate a more efficient seismic behavior of TCFP isolator comparing to the other types of isolators. This efficiency depends on the selected effective isolation period as well as effective isolation damping. The investigation shows that increasing the effective isolation period or decreasing the effective isolation damping improves the seismic behavior of TCFP compared to the other isolators. The maximum difference in seismic responses, the base shear and the bearing displacement, for the TCFP isolator are calculated 26.8 and 13.4 percent less than the DCFP and FPS in effective isolation damping equal to10%, respectively.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1259-1281
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• 2014

This research has been conducted in order to investigate the effects of peak ground velocity (PGV) of near-field earthquakes on base-isolated structures mounted on Single Friction Pendulum (SFP), Double Concave Friction Pendulum (DCFP) and Triple Concave Friction Pendulum (TCFP) bearings. Seismic responses of base-isolated structures subjected to simplified near field pulses including the forward directivity and the fling step pulses are considered in this study. Behaviour of a two dimensional single story structure mounting on SFP, DCFP and TCFP isolators investigated employing a variety range of isolators and the velocity (PGV) of the forward directivity and the fling step pulses as the main variables of the near field earthquakes. The maximum isolator displacement and base shear are selected as main seismic responses. Peak seismic responses of different isolator types are compared to emphasize the efficiency of each one under near field earthquakes. It is demonstrated that rising the PGVs increases the isolator displacement and base shear of structure. The effects of the forward directivity are greater than the fling step pulses. Furthermore, TCFP isolator is more effective to control the near field effects than the other friction pendulum isolators are. This efficiency is more significant in pulses with longer period and greater PGVs.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.931-953
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• 2016

In this paper, the effects of mass eccentricity of superstructure as well as stiffness eccentricity of isolators on the amplification of seismic responses of base-isolated structures are investigated by using mathematical near-fault pulse models. Superstructures with 3, 6 and 9 stories and aspect ratios equal to 1, 2 and 3 are mounted on a reasonable variety of Triple Concave Friction Pendulum (TCFP) bearings considering different period and damping ratio. Three-dimensional linear superstructure mounted on nonlinear isolators are subjected to simplified pulses including fling step and forward directivity while various pulse period ($T_p$) and Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) amounts as two crucial parameters of these pulses are scrutinized. Maximum isolator displacement and base shear as well as peak superstructure acceleration and drift are selected as the main engineering demand parameters. The results indicate that the torsional intensification of different demand parameters caused by superstructure mass eccentricity is more significant than isolator stiffness eccentricity. The torsion due to mass eccentricity has intensified the base shear of asymmetric 6-story model 2.55 times comparing to symmetric one. In similar circumstances, the isolator displacement and roof acceleration are increased 49 and 116 percent respectively in the presence of mass eccentricity. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that torsional effects of mass eccentricity can force the drift to reach the allowable limit of ASCE 7 standard in the presence of forward directivity pulses.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.641-656
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• 2017

The effects of vertical component of earthquakes on torsional amplification due to mass eccentricity in seismic responses of base-isolated structures subjected to near-field ground motions are studied in this paper. 3-, 6- and 9-story superstructures and aspect ratios of 1, 2 and 3 have been modeled as steel special moment frames mounted on Triple Concave Friction Pendulum (TCFP) bearings considering different period and damping ratios. Three-dimensional linear superstructures resting on nonlinear isolators are subjected to both 2 and 3 component near-field ground motions. Effects of mass eccentricity and vertical component of 25 near-field earthquakes on the seismic responses including maximum isolator displacement and base shear as well as peak superstructure acceleration are studied. The results indicate that the effect of vertical component on the responses of asymmetric structures, especially on the base shear is significant. Therefore, it can be claimed that in the absence of the vertical component, mass eccentricity has a little effect on the base shear increase. Additionally, the impact of this component on acceleration is remarkable so the roof acceleration of a nine-story structure has been increased 1.67 times, compared to the case that the structure is subjected to only horizontal components of earthquakes.