Seismic Isolation Experience Accumulated in Armenia

Abstract eng:
Since 1994 the total number of base and roof isolated buildings, which are already constructed, retrofitted or are under construction in Armenia, has reached to 32. The number of base isolated buildings per capita in Armenia is the one of the highest in the world. The construction of ordinary (apartment) buildings and critical facilities using seismic isolation costs 30-35% cheaper in comparison with the conventionally designed buildings. Much bigger savings were obtained in retrofitting of an apartment building and a school building. For the first time in the world retrofitting of these buildings by base isolation in Armenia was carried out without interruption of the use of the buildings. In these cases due to seismic isolation the cost of retrofitting was about 1.5-2.0 times less in comparison with the cost of conventional retrofitting. The original and innovative structural concepts of seven residential complexes, three hotels and of a business center were developed in 2004 - 2008. Under different columns of RC frames and different shear walls of these buildings different quantities of MDRB are envisaged. This is new approach on installation of the group of small rubber bearings instead of one big bearing. The advantages of this approach are listed in the paper. Based on the carried out analysis a conclusion was made that some further measures should be taken in order to more realistically describe the behavior of seismic isolated buildings in the design models during the calculations by the Seismic Code of Armenia.

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