• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.475-489
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• 2015

This study presents the validation of a numerical model developed for dynamic analysis of buildings with roller seismic isolation bearings. Experimental methods allowed validation of the motion equations of a physical model of a building with and without roller bearings under base excitation. The results are presented in terms of modal parameters, frequency response functions (FRFs) and acceleration response. The agreement between numerical and experimental results proves the accuracy of the developed numerical model. Finally, the performance of the constructed seismic protection system is assessed through a parametric study.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.67-81
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• 2019

Rows of closely adjacent buildings with similar dynamic characteristics are common building arrangements in residential areas. In this paper, we present a vibration control strategy for the seismic protection of this kind of multibuilding systems. The proposed approach uses an advanced Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) computational procedure to carry out the integrated design of distributed multiactuation schemes that combine interbuilding linking devices with interstory actuators implemented at different levels of the buildings. The controller designs are formulated as static output-feedback H-infinity control problems that include the interstory drifts, interbuilding approachings and control efforts as controlled-output variables. The advantages of the LMI computational procedure are also exploited to design a fully-decentralized velocity-feedback controller, which can define a passive control system with high-performance characteristics. The main ideas are presented by means of a system of three adjacent five-story identical buildings, and a proper set of numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the behavior of the different control configurations. The obtained results indicate that interstory-interbuilding multiactuation schemes can be used to design effective vibration control systems for adjacent buildings with similar dynamic characteristics. Specifically, this kind of control systems is able to mitigate the vibrational response of the individual buildings while maintaining reduced levels of pounding risk.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.140-148
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• 2019

In line with the "mandatory seismic design of fire protection facilities," development of design automation software is indispensable for improving the reliability and efficiency of seismic design. The seismic design automation software developed in this study is an automated S/W for seismic design of fire-fighting facilities, and functions such as automatic arrangement of anti-shake braces according to Korea National Fire Agency's Seismic Design Standards for fire-fighting facilities, output of seismic bracing calculation bills and automatic quantities counting. In addition, the seismic design automation software not only reduces the work speed by three times compared to the manual design of the designer, but also improves the reliability of the design by reducing the human error related to the design quantity such as the brace. In addition, in the seismic design method of fire protection facilities that have been approached conservatively, it was possible to perform the optimal seismic design by using computer algorithms for at least in the use of braces.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.657-678
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• 2013

For economical earthquake resistant design of cable-stayed bridge tower, the use of energy dissipation systems for the earthquake protection of steel structures represents an alternative seismic design method where the tower structure could be constructed to dissipate a large amount of earthquake input energy through inelastic deformations in certain positions, which could be easily retrofitted after damage. The design of energy dissipation systems for bridges could be achieved as the result of two conflicting requirements: no damage under serviceability limit state load condition and maximum dissipation under ultimate limit state load condition. A new concept for cable-stayed bridge tower seismic design that incorporates sacrificial link scheme of low yield point steel horizontal beam is introduced to enable the tower frame structure to remain elastic under large seismic excitation. A nonlinear dynamic analysis for the tower model with the proposed energy dissipation systems is carried out and compared to the response obtained for the tower with its original configuration. The improvement in seismic performance of the tower with supplemental passive energy dissipation system has been measured in terms of the reduction achieved in different response quantities. Obtained results show that the proposed energy dissipation system of low yield point steel seismic link could strongly enhance the seismic performance of the tower structure where the tower and the overall bridge demands are significantly reduced. Low yield point steel seismic link effectively reduces the damage of main structural members under earthquake loading as seismic link yield level decreases due their exceptional behavior as well as its ability to undergo early plastic deformations achieving the concentration of inelastic deformation at tower horizontal beam.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.385-403
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• 2007

The effectiveness of the newly developed smart passive control system employing a magnetorheological (MR) damper and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) part for seismic protection of base isolated structures is numerically investigated. An EMI part in the system consists of a permanent magnet and a coil, which changes the kinetic energy of the deformation of an MR damper into the electric energy (i.e. the induced current) according to the Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. In the smart passive control system, the damping characteristics of an MR damper are varied with the current input generated from an EMI part. Hence, it does not need any control system consisting of sensors, a controller and an external power source. This makes the system much simpler as well as more economic. To verify the efficacy of the smart passive control system, a series of numerical simulations are carried out by considering the benchmark base isolated structure control problems. The numerical simulation results show that the smart passive control system has the comparable control performance to the conventional MR damper-based semiactive control system. Therefore, the smart passive control system could be considered as one of the promising control devices for seismic protection of seismically excited base isolated structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.633-656
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• 2001

In this paper, modal control with direct output feedback is formulated in a systematic manner for easy implementation. Its application to the seismic protection of structural systems is verified by a shaking table test, which involves a full-scale building model and an active bracing system as the control device. Two modal control cases, namely, one full-state feedback and one direct output feedback control were tested and compared. The experimental result shows that in mitigating the seismic response of building structures, modal control with direct output feedback can be as effective and efficient as that with full-state feedback control. For practical concerns, the control performance of the proposed method in the presence of sensor noise and stiffness modeling error was also investigated. The numerical result shows that although the control force may be increased, the maximum floor displacements of the controlled structure are very insensitive to sensor noise and modeling error.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.399-412
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• 2011

This study compares the performance of two smart isolation systems that utilize superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) for seismic protection of bridges using energy balance concepts. The first isolation system is a SMA/rubber-based isolation system (SRB-IS) and consists of a laminated rubber bearing that decouples the superstructure from the bridge piers and a SMA device that provides additional energy dissipation and re-centering capacity. The second isolation system, named as superelastic-friction base isolator (S-FBI), combines the superelastic SMAs with a flat steel-Teflon bearing rather than a laminated rubber bearing. Seismic energy equations of a bridge structure with SMA-based isolation systems are established by absolute and relative energy balance formulations. Nonlinear time history analyses are performed in order to assess the effectiveness of the isolation systems and to compare their performance. The program RSPMatch 2005 is employed to generate spectrum compatible ground motions that are used in time history analyses of the isolated bridge. Results indicate that SRB-IS produces higher seismic input energy, recoverable energy and base shears as compared to the S-FBI system. Also, it is shown that combining superelastic SMAs with a sliding bearing rather than rubber bearing significantly reduce the amount of the required SMA material.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2020

It is very important to allocate valuable resources efficiently when reconstructing buildings after earthquake damage. This paper proposes the use of a simple seismic retrofitting system to make buildings more resilient than the stiffer systems such as the shear walls implemented in Chile after the earthquake in 2010. The proposal is based on the use of steel chevron-type braces in RC buildings as a dual system to improve the seismic performance of multistory buildings. A case study was carried out to compare the proposal with the shear wall solution for the typical seismic Chilean RC building from the structural and economic perspectives. The results show that it is more resilient than other stiffer seismic solutions, such as shear walls, reduces the demand, minimizes seismic damage, gives reliable earthquake protection and facilitates future upgrades and repairs while achieving the level of immediate occupancy without the costs of the shear walls system.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.529-536
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• 2003

As large structures such as high-rise buildings and cable-stayed bridges become lighter and more flexible, the necessity of structural control for reducing excessive displacement and acceleration due to seismic excitation is increased. As a method to minimize seismic damages, various base isolation systems are adopted or considered for adoption. In this study, the seismic performance of MR dampers are studied and compared with that of the NZ system as a base isolation system. As the control algorithm of the MR damper, the clipped-optimal control(applied LQR method) is employed. A five-story building is modeled and the seismic performance of the two systems subjected to three different earthquakes is compared. The results show that the MR damper system can provide superior protection than the NZ system for a wide range of ground motions.