• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1223-1240
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• 2014

Seismic isolation has been established as an effective earthquake-resistant design method and the lead rubber bearings (LRBs) are among the most commonly used seismic isolation systems. In the scientific literature, a sharp bilinear model is often used for capturing the hysteretic behaviour of the LRBs in the analysis of seismically isolated structures, although the actual behaviour of the LRBs can be more accurately represented utilizing smoothed plasticity, as captured by the Bouc-Wen model. Discrepancies between these two models are quantified in terms of the computed peak relative displacements at the isolation level, as well as the peak inter-storey deflections and the absolute top-floor accelerations, for the case of base-isolated buildings modelled as multi degree-of-freedom systems. Numerical simulations under pulse-like ground motions have been performed to assess the effect of non-linear parameters of the seismic isolation system and characteristics of both the superstructure and the earthquake excitation, on the accuracy of the computed peak structural responses. Through parametric analyses, this paper assesses potential inaccuracies of the computed peak seismic response when the sharp bilinear model is employed for modelling the LRBs instead of the more accurate and smoother Bouc-Wen model.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.427-439
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• 2003

A previous study evaluated the seismic response of typical multi-span simply supported (MSSS) and multi-span continuous (MSC) steel-girder bridges in the central and southeastern United States. The results showed that the bridges were vulnerable to damage resulting from impact between decks, and large ductility demands on nonductile columns. Furthermore, fixed and expansion bearings were likely to fail during strong ground motion. In this paper, several retrofit measures to improve the seismic performance of typical multi-span simply supported and multi-span continuous steel girder bridges are evaluated, including the use of elastomeric bearings, lead-rubber bearings, and restrainer cables. It is determined that lead-rubber bearings are the most effective retrofit measure for reducing the seismic vulnerability of typical bridges. While isolation provided by elastomeric bearings limits the forces into the columns, the added flexibility results in pounding between decks in the MSSS steel-girder bridge. Restrainer cables, which are becoming a common retrofit measure, are only moderately effective in reducing the seismic vulnerability of MSSS and MSC steel girder bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.761-783
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• 2006

The enlargement of interest in base isolators as an earthquake-proof design strategy has dramatically accelerated experimental studies of elastomeric bearings worldwide. In this paper, a new base isolator concept that is a hybrid system of rubber bearings is proposed. Uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial shaking table tests are also performed to study the seismic behavior of a 0.4-scale three-story isolated steel structure in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan. Experimental results demonstrate that structures with a hybrid system of rubber bearings composed of stirruped rubber bearings and laminated rubber bearings can actually decrease the seismic responses of the superstructure. It has been proved through the shaking table tests that the proposed hybrid system of rubber bearings is a very promising tool to enhance the seismic resistance of structures. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the proposed analytical model in this paper can predict the mechanical behavior of the hybrid system of rubber bearings and seismic responses of the base-isolated structures.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.51-60
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• 1998

Base isolation is an innovative design strategy that provides a practical alternative for the seismic design of structures. Base isolators, mainly employed to isolate large structures subjected to earthquake ground excitations and to rehabilitate structures damaged by past earthquakes, deflect and absorb the seismic energy horizontally transmitted to the structures. This study demonstrated that the base isolation system may offer effective performance for bridges during severe seismic events through shaking table tests. Two base isolation systems using laminated rubber bearings with and without hydraulic dampers are tested. The test results strongly show that the laminate rubber bearings cause the natural period of the bridge structure increased considerably, which results in the deck acceleration and the shear forces on the deck acceleratino and the shear forces on the piers reduced significantly. The results also demonstrate that the hydraulic dampers enhance the system's capacity in dissipating energy to reduce the relative displacement between the bridge deck and the pier.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.809-822
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• 2013

Base isolation is widely used in seismic resisting buildings due to its low construction cost, high reliability, mature theory and convenient usage. However, it is difficult to design the isolation layer in high-rise buildings using the available bearings because high-rise buildings are characterized with long period, low horizontal stiffness, and complex re-distribution of the internal forces under earthquake loads etc. In this paper, a simple and innovative isolation bearing, named Teflon-based lead rubber isolation bearing, is developed to address the mentioned problems. The Teflon-based lead rubber isolation bearing consists of friction material and lead rubber isolation bearing. Hence, it integrates advantages of friction bearings and lead rubber isolation bearings so that improves the stability of base isolation system. An experimental study was conducted to validate the effectiveness of this new bearing. The effects of vertical loading, displacement amplitude and loading frequency on the force-displacement relationship and energy dissipation capacity of the Teflon-based lead rubber isolation bearing were studied. An analytical model was also proposed to predict the force-displacement relationship of the new bearing. Comparison of analytical and experimental results showed that the analytical model can accurately predict the force-displacement relationship and elastic shear deflection of the Teflon-based lead rubber isolation bearings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.241-257
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• 2003

The first seismically isolated structure in Taiwan was completed in early 1999. Seven new bridges of the Second National Freeway located at Bai-Ho area, a region which is considered to be of high seismic risk, have been designed and constructed with lead-rubber seismic isolation bearings. Since this is the first application of seismic isolation method to the practical construction in Taiwan, field tests were conducted for one of the seven bridges to evaluate the assumptions and uncertainties in the design and construction. The test program is composed of ambient vibration tests, forced vibration tests, and free vibration tests. For the free vibration tests, a special test setup composed of four 1000 kN hydraulic jacks and a quick-release mechanism was designed to perform the function of push-and-quick release. Valuable results have been obtained based on the correlation between measured and analytical data so that the analytical model can be calibrated. Based on the analytical correlation, it is concluded that the dynamic characteristics and free vibration behavior of the isolated bridge can be well captured when the nonlinear properties of the bearings are properly considered in the modeling.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.187-194
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• 1999

Laminated rubber bearings are widely used as a key component in seismic isolation of structural systems subjected to earthquake loadings. The combination of rubber layers and reinforcing steel shims makes the bearings conditionally unstable similar to buckling of ordinary columns. The shear flexibility of these short columns can lead to relatively low buckling Toads which may be further reduced when high shear strains are simultaneously imposed As an analytical approach, the area reduction formula has been proposed to account for the reduction in buckling load due to shear, but the degree of conservatism is unknown. In order to complement analytical approaches, a non-linear finite element analysis can be used. In this paper, a numerical study which aims at determining the effect of high shear strain on the critical load of elastomeric bearings is presented. From the load-displacement curve at each specified shear displacement, the buckling load can be obtained using the Southwell procedures. The results obtained are then compared against the theoretical predictions in order to examine the validity and the conservatism of the theoretical formulas.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.348-355
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• 2001

A computer program named \"NLDA-BIS\", which runs under the MATLAB environment, is developed fur seismic response analysis of base isolated structures. This program can explicitly model the various nonlinear isolation elements such as elastomeric bearings, sliding bearings and general viscous dampers, and so on. Newmark'\`s constant average acceleration method fur calculating the responses in time domain and the iterative pseudo-force method for treating the nonlinear isolation forces are adopted. For capturing the hysteretic behavior of isolation elements, the modified Wen's equations are adopted and solved by the numerical differentiation formula method. To verify the validity of the developed program, the seismic responses of a six-story reinforced concrete base isolated structure are calculated and compared with results obtained by the program \"3D-BASIS\" developed at the State University of New York at Buffalo which is the most widely used code far analyzing isolated structures today.ed structures today.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.397-412
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• 2011

In this paper, the seismic response of elevated broad and slender liquid storage tanks isolated by elastomeric or sliding bearings was investigated. The accuracy of predictions of SAP2000 vs. 3D-BASIS-ME programs was examined. A comparative study of the performance of base isolated tanks when isolation bearings are placed at the top or at the bottom of the supporting tower structure was conducted. It was found that base isolation is quite effective in reducing the earthquake response of elevated liquid storage tanks in which high reductions of base shear and shaft displacement were achieved. Modeling the isolated tanks in SAP2000 was very successful in producing results that are nearly identical to those of program 3D-BASIS-ME. Placing the isolators at the top of the shaft in elevated tanks proved to be much better than placing them at the bottom.