Experimental Study on a New Vertical Isolation Bearing

Abstract eng:
In the near fault area or epicenter, significant vertical ground motion had been recorded frequently and lots of damage was found on the buildings caused by the vertical earthquakes. The vertical component of the earthquake impact can not be ignored. Nowadays various horizontal isolation bearings have been put into use to protect buildings from earthquake damage. They can work well in seismic reduction in the horizontal direction, but not so good in the vertical direction. Therefore, it is necessary to develop proper vertical isolation bearing. This paper proposes a creative vertical isolation bearing which has the advantage of simple configuration, low price and stable performance. It can be used as not only the vertical isolation bearing but also as the vertical isolation part of a three-dimensional base isolation bearing. Vertical pseudo-static tests have been performed on the bearing. Factors affecting the mechanical properties of the bearing have been investigated. Furthermore, shaking table tests have been conducted on a three-storey steel frame model to study the performance of the bearing. Four supporting cases have been realized in the frame model including vertical base isolation, three-dimensional base isolation, horizontal base isolation and the normal fix supporting. Sine waves and earthquake motions have been input to the shaking table. The test results show that the proposed vertical isolation bearing possesses high and steady vertical supporting ability, proper stiffness and good energy dissipation ability. The frame model in the case of three-dimensional isolation supporting using the proposed vertical isolation bearing displayed more remarkable seismic isolation performance than in the other supporting cases.

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