• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.103-118
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• 2017

In vertical seismic isolation (VSI), a building is partitioned intentionally by vertical layers into two dynamically different substructures for seismic response reduction. Initially, a 1-story frame was partitioned into two substructures, interconnected by viscous and visco-elastic links, and seismic responses of the original and the vertically isolated structures (VIS) were obtained, considering a large number of stiffness and mass ratios of substructures with respect to the original structure. Color contour graphs were defined for presentation and investigation of large amounts of output results. Dynamic characteristics of the isolated structures were studied by considering the non-classical damping of the system, and then the effects of viscous and visco-elastic link parameters on the modal damping ratios were discussed. On this basis, three states of mass isolation, interactional state, and control mass were differentiated. Response history analyses were performed by Runge-Kutta numerical method. In these analyses, interaction of isolation ratios and link parameters, on response control of VIS was studied and the appropriate ranges for link parameters as well as the optimal ranges for isolation ratios were suggested. Results show that by using the VSI technique, seismic response reduction up to 50% in flexible substructure and even more in stiff substructure is achievable.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.225-232
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• 1997

A study of effects of design parameters on the seismic responses of base isolated structure is performed to reduce the seismic responses using a linear tw0-degree of freedom system and a lumped-mass model of a nuclear power p;ant(NPP). From the simplified 2 DOF system the optimal isolation frequency being less than 1/10th of the fundamental frequency of superstructure is obtained, and the isolator damping minimizing the peak acceleration depends on superstructure frequency. From the time history analyses for lumped mass model of NPP the optimal damping is calculated as 40% in containment building and 65% in reactor internal structure. Similar results are obtained in 2 DOF system

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.3 s.55
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• pp.73-86
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• 2007

In this paper, a simple seismic analysis model of the KALIMER-600 sodium-cooled fast reactor selected to be the candidate of the GEN-IV reactor is developed. By using this model, the seismic time history analysis is carried out to investigate the feasibilities of a seismic isolation design. The developed simple seismic analysis model includes the reactor building, reactor system,, IHTS piping system, steam generator, and seismic isolators. The dynamic characteristics of the simple seismic model are verified with the detailed 3-dimensional finite element analysis for each part of the KALIMER-600 system. By using the developed simple seismic model, the seismic time history analyses for both cases of a seismic isolation and non-isolation design are performed for the artificial time history of a SSE (Safe Shutdown Earthquake) 0.3g. From the comparison of the calculated floor response spectrum, it is verified that the seismically isolated KALIMER-600 reactor building shows a great performance of a seismic isolation and assures a seismic integrity.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.503-529
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• 2015

Traditionally, multi-story buildings are designed to provide stiffer structural support to withstand lateral earthquake loading. Introducing flexible elements at the base of a structure and providing sufficient damping is an alternative way to mitigate seismic hazards. These features can be achieved with a device known as an isolator. This paper covers the design of base isolators for multi-story buildings in medium-risk seismicity regions and evaluates the structural responses of such isolators. The well-known tower building for police personnel built in Dhaka, Bangladesh by the Public Works Department (PWD) has been used as a case study to justify the viability of incorporating base isolators. The objective of this research was to establish a simplified model of the building that can be effectively used for dynamic analysis, to evaluate the structural status, and to suggest an alternative option to handle the lateral seismic load. A finite element model was incorporated to understand the structural responses. Rubber-steel bearing (RSB) isolators such as Lead rubber bearing (LRB) and high damping rubber bearing (HDRB) were used in the model to insert an isolator link element in the structural base. The nonlinearities of rubber-steel bearings were considered in detail. Linear static, linear dynamic, and nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed for both fixed-based (FB) and base isolated (BI) buildings considering the earthquake accelerograms, histories, and response spectra of the geological sites. Both the time-domain and frequency-domain approaches were used for dynamic solutions. The results indicated that for existing multi-story buildings, RSB diminishes the muscular amount of structural response compared to conventional non-isolated structures. The device also allows for higher horizontal displacement and greater structural flexibility. The suggested isolation technique is able to mitigate the structural hazard under even strong earthquake vulnerability.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.293-311
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• 2016

A parametric study on the nonlinear seismic response of isolated reinforced concrete structural frame is presented. Three prototype frames designed according to the 1954 Hellenic seismic code, with number of floor ranging from 1 to 3 were considered. These low rise frames are representative of many existing reinforced concrete buildings in Greece. The efficacy of the implementation of both lead rubber bearings (LRB) and friction pendulum isolators (FPI) base isolation systems were examined. The selection of the isolation devices was made according to the ratio $T_{is}/T_{fb}$, where Tis is the period of the base isolation system and $T_{bf}$ is the period of the fixed-base building. The main purpose of this comprehensive study is to investigate the effect of the isolation system period on the seismic response of inadequately designed low rise buildings. Thus, the implementation of isolation systems which correspond to the ratio $T_{is}/T_{fb}$ that values from 3 to 5 is studied. Nonlinear time history analyses were performed to investigate the response of the isolated structures using a set of three natural seismic ground motions. The evaluation of each retrofitting case was made in terms of storey drift and storey shear force while in view of serviceability it was made in terms of storey acceleration. Finally, the maximum developed displacements and the residual displacements of the isolation systems are presented.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2011

During very strong earthquakes, seismically isolated buildings may experience large horizontal relative displacements, which may lead to poundings if an insufficiently wide clearance is provided around the building. This paper investigates, through numerical simulations, the effectiveness of using rubber bumpers, which could be attached at locations where it is likely to have impacts, in order to act as shock-absorbers. For the simulation of the dynamic behavior of such rubber bumpers during impacts, a nonlinear force-based impact model, which takes into account the finite thickness of the rubber bumpers, has been developed. Subsequently, a series of parametric analyses are performed to assess the effect of the gap size, the earthquake characteristics and the thickness, compressive capacity and damping of the bumpers. The stiffness of the moat wall is also parametrically considered during poundings of a seismically isolated building, as another potential mitigation measure for poundings of seismically isolated buildings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.277-297
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• 2014

Since the isolation bearings undergo large displacements in base-isolated structures, impact with adjacent structures is inevitable. Therefore, in this investigation, the effect of impact on seismic response of isolated structures mounted on double concave friction pendulum (DCFP) bearings subjected to near field ground motions is considered. A non-linear viscoelastic model of collision is used to simulate structural pounding more accurately. 2-, 4- and 8-story base-isolated buildings adjacent to fixed-base structures are modeled and the coupled differential equations of motion related to these isolated systems are solved in the MATLAB environment using the SIMULINK toolbox. The variation of seismic responses such as base shear, displacement in the isolation system and superstructure (top floor) is computed to study the impact condition. Also, the effects of variation of system parameters: isolation period, superstructure period, size of seismic gap between two structures, radius of curvature of the sliding surface and friction coefficient of isolator are contemplated in this study. It is concluded that the normalized base shear, bearing and top floor displacement increase due to impact with adjacent structure. When the distance between two structures decreases, the base shear and displacement increase comparing to no impact condition. Besides, the increase in friction coefficient difference also causes the normalized base shear and displacement in isolation system and superstructure increase in comparison with bi-linear hysteretic behavior of base isolation system. Totally, the comparison of results indicates that the changes in values of friction coefficient have more significant effects on 2-story building than 4- and 8-story buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1067-1087
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• 2016

In this paper, a decoupled proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control approach for seismic control of smart structures is presented. First, the state space equation of a structure is transformed into modal coordinates and parameters of the modal PID control are separately designed in a reduced modal space. Then, the feedback gain matrix of the controller is obtained based on the contribution of modal responses to the structural responses. The performance of the controller is investigated to adjust control force of piezoelectric friction dampers (PFDs) in a benchmark base isolated building. In order to tune the modal feedback gain of the controller, a suitable trade-off among the conflicting objectives, i.e., the reduction of maximum modal base displacement and the maximum modal floor acceleration of the smart base isolated structure, as well as the maximum modal control force, is created using a multi-objective cuckoo search (MOCS) algorithm. In terms of reduction of maximum base displacement and story acceleration, numerical simulations show that the proposed method performs better than other reported controllers in the literature. Moreover, simulation results show that the PFDs are able to efficiently dissipate the input excitation energy and reduce the damage energy of the structure. Overall, the proposed control strategy provides a simple strategy to tune the control forces and reduces the number of sensors of the control system to the number of controlled stories.

• 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.

• 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.