Shaking Table Tests of Full Scale Base-Isolated Structures

Author(s):  
C. S. Tsai ◽  
B. J. Chen ◽  
T. C. Chiang

Conventional earthquake resistant designs depend on strengthen and ductility of the structural components to resist induced forces and to dissipate seismic energy. However, this can produce permanent damage to the joints as well as the larger interstory displacements. In recently years, many studies on structural control strategies and devices have been developed and applied in U. S. A., Europe, Japan, and New Zealand. The rubber bearing belongs to one kind of the earthquake-proof ideas of structural control technologies. The installation of rubber bearings can lengthen the natural period of a building and simultaneously reduce the earthquake-induced energy trying to impart to the building. They can reduce the magnitude of the earthquake-induced forces and consequently reduce damage to the structures and its contents, and reduce danger to its occupants. This paper is aimed at studying the mechanical behavior of the stirrup rubber bearings (SRB) and evaluating the feasibility of the buildings equipped with the stirrup rubber bearings. Furthermore, uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial shaking table tests are conducted to study the seismic response of a full-scale three-story isolated steel structure. Experimental results indicate that the stirrup rubber bearings possess higher damping ratios at higher strains, and that the stirrup rubber bearings provide good protection for structures. It has been proved through the full-scale tests on shaking table that the stirrup rubber bearing is a very promising tool to enhance the seismic resistibility of structures.

Author(s):  
Jun-Ping Pu ◽  
C. S. Tsai ◽  
Jian-Fa Huang ◽  
Bo-Jen Chen ◽  
Yao-Min Fang

In recent years, many studies on base isolation strategies and devices have been developed and applied in U. S. A., Europe, Japan, and New Zealand. The high damping rubber bearing belongs to one kind of the earthquake-proof ideas of base isolation technologies. The installation of high damping rubber bearings can lengthen the natural period of a building and simultaneously reduce the earthquake-induced energy trying to impart to the building. The objective of this paper is to investigate the base isolation effect of high damping rubber bearings. The uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial shaking table tests were 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. The experimental and analytical results show that the nonlinear mechanical characteristics of the high damping rubber bearings can be reasonably simulated.


2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Tsai ◽  
Bo-Jen Chen ◽  
Tsu-Cheng Chiang ◽  
Guan-Hsing Lee

In conventional earthquake resistance design approach (the ductility-design philosophy), the energy dissipation mechanism is based on plastic deformations at scattered locations in the structure. However, this can produce permanent damage to the joints as well as the larger interstory displacements. In recently years, the base isolation technology has been adopted as a feasible and attractive way in improving seismic resistance of structures. It can shift the natural periods of structures away from the rich periods contents of earthquake motions, but also provide considerable supplemental damping to dissipate seismic energy transmitted into structures during earthquakes. In this paper, uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial shaking table tests are 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 hybrid rubber bearings can actually decrease the seismic responses of the superstructure. It has been proved through the shaking table tests that the rubber bearing is a very promising tool to enhance the seismic resistibility of structures. Moreover, it is illustrated that the proposed analytical model and finite element formulation in this paper can well predict the mechanical behavior of rubber bearings and seismic responses of the base-isolated structures.


Author(s):  
C. S. Tsai ◽  
Wen-Shin Chen ◽  
Yung-Chang Lin ◽  
Chen-Tsung Yang ◽  
Ching-Pei Tsou

Since 1970’s, many types of braces have been developed without buckling under large compressive forces called the buckling restrained brace BRB, or unbonded brace. Recently, many investigators have made a lot of efforts to look into the behaviors of the buckling restrained brace under quasi-static forces, but few experimental results about shaking table tests of a structure with buckling restrained braces have been published. Therefore, in this study, a series of shaking table tests were carried out in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, and the issue is focused on observing the seismic responses of a full-scale three-story steel structure with multi-curved reinforced buckling restrained braces subjected to earthquake ground motions. Experimental results show that most column shear forces and displacements had been reduced by the RBRB devices. In addition, the absolute accelerations had also been favorably diminished during earthquakes. It can be proven that the proposed device is suitable for applications of seismic mitigation for structures.


2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (13) ◽  
pp. 1653-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Tsai ◽  
Wen-Shin Chen ◽  
Tsu-Cheng Chiang ◽  
Bo-Jen Chen

2016 ◽  
pp. 2417-2424
Author(s):  
T. Hanazato ◽  
H. Seno ◽  
Y Niitsu ◽  
H. Imai ◽  
T. Narafu ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Hiroshi NAKAZAWA ◽  
Yutaka SAWADA ◽  
Tetsuya ODA ◽  
Tomohiro KOBAYASHI ◽  
Seita KOBAYASHI ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1421-1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktor Hristovski ◽  
Violeta Mircevska ◽  
Bruno Dujic ◽  
Mihail Garevski

Cross-laminated timber has recently gained great popularity in earthquake-prone areas for construction of residential, administrative, and other types of buildings. At the Laboratory of the Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology in Skopje, comparative full-scale shaking-table tests of cross-laminated timber panel systems have been carried out as a part of the full research program on the seismic behavior of these types of wooden systems, realized by Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, Skopje, and the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering (UL FCG), University of Ljubljana. Two different specimens built of cross-laminated timber panels have been tested: specimen containing a pair of single-unit principal wall elements (Specimen 1) and specimen containing a pair of two-unit principal wall elements (Specimen 2). In this article, the results from the shaking-table tests obtained for Specimen 2 and numerically verified by using appropriate finite element method–based computational model are discussed. Reference is also made to the comparative analysis of the test results obtained for both specimens. One of the most important aspects of the research has been the estimation of the seismic energy-dissipation ability of Specimen 1 and 2, via calculation of the equivalent viscous damping using the performed experimental tests. It is generally concluded that Specimen 2 exhibits a similar rocking behavior as Specimen 1, with similar energy-dissipation ability. Both specimens have manifested slightly different dynamic properties, mostly because Specimen 2 has been designed with one anchor more compared to Specimen 1. Forced vibration tests have been used for identification of the effective stiffness on the contacts for Specimen 2. This research is expected to be a contribution toward clarification of the behavior and practical design of cross-laminated timber panel systems subjected to earthquake loading.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document