Techno Press
You logged in as. Techno Press

Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  Volume 16, Number 1, July 2003 , pages 101-114
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2003.16.1.101
 


Structure\' base design for earthquake protection numerical and experimental study
K. Alsaif and H. Kaplan

 
Abstract
    A base isolation system is proposed for earthquake protection of structures. The system incorporates spherical supports for the base, a specially designed spring-cam system to keep the base rigidly supported under normal condition and to allow it to move for the duration of the earthquake under the constraint of a spring with optimized non-linear characteristics. A single-story model is constructed to investigate the feasibility of the concept. Numerical simulations of the system as well as experimental results show that 95% reduction of the transmitted force to the structure can be achieved. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this isolation mechanism, the maximum dynamic bending stress developed at pre-determined critical points within the frame of the structure is measured. Significant reduction of the dynamic stresses is obtained.
 
Key Words
    earthquake protection; active isolation; transmitted force; dynamic stresses; spherical support.
 
Address
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706, USA
 

Techno-Press: Publishers of international journals and conference proceedings.       Copyright © 2025 Techno Press
P.O. Box 33, Yuseong, Daejeon 305-600 Korea, Tel: +82-42-828-7996, Fax : +82-42-828-7997, Email: admin@techno-press.com