• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.315-334
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• 2011

Seismic isolated building structures are examined in this study. The triple concave friction pendulum (TCFP) is used as a seismic isolation system which is easy to be manufactured and enduring more than traditional seismic isolation systems. In the TCFP, take advantage of weight which pendulum carrying and it's geometry in order to obtain desirable result of seismic isolation systems. These systems offer advantage to buildings which subject to severe earthquake. This is result of damping force of earthquake by means of their internal constructions, which consists of multiple surfaces. As the combinations of surfaces upon which sliding is occurring change, the stiffness and effective friction change accordingly. Additionally, the mentioned the TCFP is modeled as of a series arrangement of the three single concave friction pendulum (SCFP) bearings. A two dimensional- and eight- story of a building with and without isolation system are used in the time history analysis in order to investigate of the effectiveness of the seismic isolation systems on the buildings. Results are compared with each other to emphasize efficiency of the TCFP as a seismic isolation device against the other friction type isolation system like single and double concave surfaces. The values of the acceleration, floor displacement and isolator displacement obtained from the results by using different types of the isolation bearings are compared each other. As a result, the findings show that the TCFP bearings are more effective devices for isolation of the buildings against severe earthquakes.

• 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.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.195-213
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• 2012

This paper presents the investigation of the stochastic responses of seismically isolated bridges subjected to spatially varying earthquake ground motions including incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The incoherence effect is examined by considering Harichandran and Vanmarcke coherency model. The effect of the wave-passage is dealt with various wave velocities in the response analysis. Homogeneous firm, medium and soft soil conditions are selected for considering the site-response effect where the bridge supports are constructed. The ground motion is described by filtered white noise and applied to each support points. For seismic isolation of the bridge, single and double concave friction pendulum bearings are used. Due to presence of friction on the concave surfaces of the isolation systems, the equation of motion of is non-linear. The non-linear equation of motion is solved by using equivalent linearization technique of non-linear stochastic analyses. Solutions obtained from the stochastic analyses of non-isolated and isolated bridges to spatially varying earthquake ground motions compared with each other for the special cases of the ground motion model. It is concluded that friction pendulum systems having single and double concave surfaces have important effects on the stochastic responses of bridges to spatially varying earthquake ground motions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.693-715
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• 2011

The main object of this study is to evaluate the seismic response effects on a reinforced concrete building isolated by triple concave friction pendulum (TCFP) bearings. The site-response effects arise from the difference in the local soil conditions at the support points of the buildings. The local soil conditions are, therefore, considered as soft, medium and firm; separately. The results on the responses of the isolated building are compared with those of the non-isolated. The building model used in the time history analysis, which is a two-dimensional and eight-storey reinforced concrete building with and without the seismic isolation bearings and/or the local soil conditions, is composed of two-dimensional moment resisting frames for superstructure and of plane elements featuring plane-stress for substructure. The TCFP bearings for isolating the building are modelled as of a series arrangement of the three single concave friction pendulum (SCFP) bearings. In order to investigate the efficiency of both the seismic isolation bearings and the site-response effects on the buildings, the time history analyses are elaborately conducted. It is noted that the site-response effects are important for the isolated building constructed on soft, medium or firm type local foundation soil. The results of the analysis demonstrate that the site-response has significant effects on the response values of the structure-seismic isolation-foundation soil system.

• 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.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.511-525
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• 2014

The main object of this study is to determine and compare the structural behavior of base isolated long span highway bridge, $G\ddot{u}lburnu$ Highway Bridge, using single concave friction pendulum (SCFP) and triple concave friction pendulum (TCFP). The bridge is seismically isolated in the design phase to increase the main period and reduce the horizontal forces with moments using SCFP bearings. In the content of the paper, firstly three dimensional finite element model (FEM) of the bridge is constituted using project drawings by SAP2000 software. The dynamic characteristics such as natural frequencies and periods, and the structural response such as displacements, axial forces, shear forces and torsional moments are attained from the modal and dynamic analyses. After, FEM of the bridge is updated using TCFP and the analyses are performed. At the end of the study, the dynamic characteristics and internal forces are compared with each other to extract the TCFP effect. To emphasize the base isolation effect, the non-isolated structural analysis results are added to graphics. The predominant frequencies of bridge non-isolated, isolated with SCFP and isolated with TCFP conditions decreased from 0.849Hz to 0.497Hz and 0.338Hz, respectively. The maximum vertical displacements are obtained as 57cm, 54cm and 44cm for non-isolated, isolated with SCFP and isolated with TCFP conditions, respectively. The maximum vertical displacement reduction between isolated with TCFP bearing and isolated with SCFP bearing bridge is %23. Maximum axial forces are obtained as 60619kN, 18728kN and 7382kN, maximum shear forces are obtained as 23408kN, 17913kN and 16249kN and maximum torsional moments are obtained as 24020kNm, 7619kNm and 3840kNm for non-isolated, isolated with SCFP and isolated with TCFP conditions, respectively.