Seismic Protection with Base Isolation

Author(s):  
Keisuke Minagawa ◽  
Fabrizio Paolacci

Abstract Seismic damage of chemical plant facilities (pressure vessels, piping, storage tanks, etc..) can causes human and economic losses as well as heavy environmental damages. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to reduce such a consequences. The passive control techniques (PCT) as dampers or base isolation can represent an effective technique to mitigate the major damage caused by earthquakes. Viscous dampers, tuned mass dampers and base isolators are well-known passive control devices successfully applied to civil structures, as demonstrated during the last big events as Northridge earthquake in 1994, the Kobe earthquake in 1995, the Great East Japan earthquake in 2011. The scarce application to major hazard industrial facilities as chemical plants poses some questions, including the selection of suitable devices, their real applicability and effectiveness, because of the strict requirements of chemical plant equipment in terms of safety and business continuity. Therefore, this study aim at analyzing the possible applications of the most renew passive control techniques for seismic protection for chemical plant components. In this respect, a complete review of typical seismic damage of industrial (chemical) facilities and the investigation of the applicability of PCT as mitigation strategy is offered for all possible structural typologies of units presents in a plant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. 2030001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Tan ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Qian Feng ◽  
Gangbing Song

Piping systems are typical nonstructural components of a building. Previous investigations have reported many cases that earthquake causes damages or failures of piping system, resulting in secondary disasters. Therefore, this paper conducts a survey of the seismic damage of the piping systems of buildings and then reviews the state-of-the-art of the passive seismic protection methods. This paper proposes to classify the building piping system into rigid connected pipes, flexible connected pipes and semi-rigid connected pipes. Typical seismic damages of building pipes are presented following this classification. Then, several current seismic protection methods (including constructional measures, seismic braces, damping techniques and base isolation methods) are discussed regarding the theoretical mechanism and feasibility. Furthermore, the state-of-the-art of the building piping system and the passive protection methods with application prospects are evaluated. Based on the review, the flexible piping systems are most commonly used in existing old buildings and are more vulnerable in earthquakes due to their high flexibility. New buildings prefer the rigid connections which tend to restrain the motion of the pipe. However, the excessive stiffness of the rigid connection may cause overlarge internal stresses in both the connection and the pipe. Semi-rigid piping systems have sufficient overall stiffness and a degree of local deform ability and thus have the best seismic performance. In future studies, more research should be devoted to propose and develop new dampers suitable for piping systems, which will improve the seismic safety of building piping systems.


Author(s):  
R. A. Poole ◽  
J. E. Clendon

Parliament House is to be partially demolished and rebuilt, extended within the existing perimeter envelope, refurbished and replanned except for the major public spaces, seismically upgraded by means of base isolation and enhancement of existing foundations, basement walls, ground floor, upper floor walls and floors. This paper describes the assessment of appropriate seismic loads, the structural system, the analysis and design of the retrofitted structure. Anticipated construction procedures and difficulties are also addressed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Sorace ◽  
Gloria Terenzi

Background:The anti-seismic design of prefab reinforced concrete buildings is usually carried out with a conventional ductility-based approach. This implies a remarkable plastic demand on columns, as well as damages to the connections of structural and non-structural members, for seismic events with comparable intensity to the basic design earthquake normative level.Objective:In view of this, a study was developed and aimed at extending to the field of new prefab reinforced concrete structures the application of advanced seismic protection strategies, capable of guaranteeing undamaged response up to the maximum considered earthquake normative level.Method:A benchmark building was designed as demonstrative case study for this purpose, in the three following hypotheses: (a) according to a traditional ductility-based approach; (b) by incorporating dissipative bracings, equipped with fluid viscous dampers; (c) by placing a seismic isolation system at the base, composed of a set of double curved surface sliders.Results:The results of the verification analyses show that the targeted performance for the design solutions b) and c) is obtained with sizes of columns and plinths notably smaller than those for the conventional design. This allows compensating the additional cost related to the incorporation of the protective devices, for the dissipative bracing system, and limiting additional costs below 25%, for the base isolation solution. At the same time, a supplemental benefit of the latter is represented by greater protection of contents and plants, as they are fully supported by the seismically isolated ground floor.Conclusion:The study highlights the advantages offered by the two advanced seismic protection technologies in an unusual field of application, guaranteeing an enhanced performance of structural and non-structural elements, as well as reduced member sizes, as compared to the traditional ductility-based design.


2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1327-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radhikesh P. Nanda ◽  
Pankaj Agarwal ◽  
Manish Shrikhande

A feasibility study of friction base isolation system for seismic protection has been performed. Four different sliding interfaces, namely, green marble/High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE), green marble/green marble, green marble/geosynthetic, and green marble/ rubber layers have been studied through experimental and analytical investigations. The experimental investigations show that the coefficient of friction values of these interfaces lies in the desirable range for seismic protection, i.e., 0.05 to 0.15. The analytical investigation reveals that most of these sliding interfaces are effective in reducing spectral accelerations up to 50% and the sliding displacement is restricted within plinth projection of 75 mm (3 in). Green marble and geosynthetic are found to be better alternatives for use in friction isolation system with equal effectiveness of energy dissipation and limiting the earthquake energy transmission to super structure during strong earthquake leading to a low cost, durable solution for earthquake protection of masonry buildings.


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