Evaluation of the efficiency of base isolation systems for concrete wall structures

Authors

  • Mihai Badila

Abstract

This paper evaluates through numerical methods the efficiency of friction pendulum bearings
and elastomeric bearings for base isolated concrete wall structures. The seismic response of base isolated
structures can be effectively estimated with the equivalent lateral force procedure, which produces consistent
results that reflect the nonlinear properties of the isolation systems. The concrete wall structures are designed
for full isolation, with the equivalent behavior reduction factor equal to the behavior reduction factor of the
base fixed structure (4.6). In order to capture different seismic inputs, several analysis are made for different
upper limits of the period of the constant spectral acceleration branch (0.7s, 1.0s and 1.6s) and different values
for the design ground acceleration (0.2g, 0.3g and 0.4g). These analysis show that, for high upper limits of the
period of the constant spectral acceleration branch and high design ground accelerations, the elastomeric
bearings are not an effective method to obtain full isolation.

Published

2020-03-25

Issue

Section

Articles