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Base Isolation Final Report PDF
Base Isolation Final Report PDF
SEMINAR REPORT
ON
BASE ISOLATION – A TECHNIQUE
Prepared by:
Charmy Modi 100420106034
Yati Tank 100420106035
Sanket Solanki 100420106036
Henish Patel 100420106037
Darshika Patel 100420106038
Ronak Jariwala 100420106039
Ruchika Patel 100420106040
FEBRUARY 2013
B.E. (3RD YEAR) 6TH SEMESTER
Department of Civil Engineering
Sarvajanik College of Engineering & Technology
Athwalines, Surat, Gujarat
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar report entitled Base Isolation-A Technique is prepared &
presented by Charmy Modi (34), Yati Tank (35), Sanket Solanki (36), Henish Patel (37),
Darshika Patel (38), Ronak Jariwala (39), Ruchika Patel (40) of B.E. III year, VI Semester
Civil Engineering during year 2011-12.
Signature of Supervisors
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
CONTENTS
1. Literature review…………………………………………………………………...4
2. Introduction………………………………………………………………………...5
3. Response of Base Isolated Buildings……………………………………………....8
4. Spherical sliding isolation system…………………………………………………10
5. Types of bearings………………………………………………………………….10
5.1 Lead rubber bearings………………………………………………………….10
5.2 Elastomeric bearings…………………………………………………………..11
5.3 High-damping rubber bearings (HDRBs)……………………………………..12
5.4 Hybrid type: lead high-damping rubber bearings (LHDRBs)…………………13
6. Maintenance and management of the isolation system……………………………15
7. Factors which enable the use of the base isolation………………………………...16
8. Practical application of base isolation……………………………………………...17
8.1 The first seismically isolated building…………………………………………17
8.2 The first seismically isolated bridge…………………………………………...18
9. The future of seismic isolation……………………………………………………..18
10. Limitations………………………………………………………………………….19
11. Case study……………………………………………………………………….….20
12. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….22
13. Reference……………………………………………………………………………23
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
1. Literature Review:
P. Komodromos in his book explains the basics of earthquakes and the detailed
description on the seismic isolation. He has described the need of this technique, its main
objective, principle on which it works, what exactly seismic isolation is?, the
mathematical calculations required to be done during the design of the seismically
isolated structures, the various factors affecting the building, etc.
Henry J. Lagorio has mainly written this book for the civil engineers and members of
the architectural profession as a means of transferring to them some of the latest
developments in earthquake hazards reduction. His interest in earthquake engineering
began in 1947 when he joined the faculty of architecture at the University of California at
Berkeley. He states that being the engineer, the main aim should be the safety of the
people. Now earthquake proof structures could not be built but at least earthquake
resistant structures could be built by using various techniques. One of those techniques is
the Base isolation technique.
David Dowrick has written this book to help professionals of a wide range of disciplines
in their attempts to reduce the social and economic risks of earthquakes. Earthquake risk
reduction involves so many issues in planning, design, regulation, quality control and
finance that are difficult for any individual to gain a full perspective on the issue, or for
any society to move forward in the quest at their desired speed. The general principles of
this book apply to the whole built environment. This book was written from the
standpoint of a designer trying to keep a broad perspective on the total process starting
from the nature of the loading through the details of the construction.
George G. Penelis and Andreas J. Kappos have started the book with the physics of
earthquake generation and finished it with the social aspects of mitigating the effect of
earthquakes. He has described about the various methods so that the structures which are
earthquake resistant.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
2. Introduction:
Base isolation is one of the most popular means of protecting a structure against
earthquake forces. It is one of most powerful tools of earthquake engineering pertaining
to the passive structural vibration control technologies. It is easiest to see the principle at
work by referring directly to the most widely used of these advanced techniques, known
as base isolation. A base isolated structure is supported by a series of bearing pads, which
are placed between the buildings and building foundation.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
Now, if the same building is rested on the flexible pads that offer resistance
against lateral movements, then some effect of the ground shaking will be transferred to
the building. If the flexible pads are properly chosen, the forces induced by ground
shaking can be a few times smaller than that experienced by the building built directly on
ground, namely a fixed base building. The flexible pads are called base-isolators, whereas
the structures protected by means of these devices are called base-isolated buildings. The
main feature of the base isolation technology is that it introduces flexibility in the
structure. As a result, a robust medium-rise masonry or reinforced concrete building
becomes extremely flexible. The isolators are often designed, to absorb energy and thus
add damping to the system. This helps in further reducing the seismic response of the
building. Many of the base isolators look like large rubber pads, although there are other
types that are based on sliding of one part of the building relative to other.
Base isolation is not suitable for all buildings. Mostly low to medium rise
buildings rested on hard soil underneath; high-rise buildings or buildings rested on soft
soil are not suitable for base isolation.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
Spherical sliding isolation systems are another type of base isolation. The building
is supported by bearing pads that have a curved surface and low friction. During an
earthquake the building is free to slide on the bearings. Since the bearings have a curved
surface, the building slides both horizontally and vertically. The forces needed to move
the building upwards limits the horizontal or lateral forces which would otherwise cause
building deformations. Also by adjusting the radius of the bearings curved surface, this
property can be used to design bearings that also lengthen the buildings period of
vibration.
5. Types of bearings:
5.1 Lead-rubber bearings
These are the frequently-used types of base isolation bearings. A lead rubber
bearing is made from layers of rubber sandwiched together with layers of steel. In the
middle of the solid lead “plug”. On top and bottom, the bearing is fitted with steel plates
which are used to attach the bearing to the building and foundation. The bearing is very
stiff and strong in the vertical direction, but flexible in the horizontal direction.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
How it works?
To get a basic idea of how base isolation works, first examine the above diagram.
This shows earthquake acting on base isolated building and a conventional, fixed-base
and building. As a result of an earthquake, the ground beneath each building begins to
move. Each building responds with movement which tends towards the right. The
buildings displacement in the direction opposite the ground motion is actually due to
inertia. The inertia forces acting on a building are the most important of all those
generated during an earthquake.
The most popular seismic isolation systems use elastomeric bearings which
consist of thin rubber sheets bonded onto thin steel plates and combine with an energy
dissipation mechanism. The rubber sheets are vulcanized and bonded to the thin steel
plates under pressure and heat.
The inner thin steel plates provide the vertical load capacity and Stiffness,
and prevent lateral bulging of the rubber.In particular the steel plates laterally constrain
the rubber sheets as vertical load is applied to the elastomeric bearing, providing the
vertical stiffness. Horizontal flexibility is provided by the shearing deformability of the
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
rubber sheets which are not restrained from deform in that direction by the steel plates.
Thick mounting steel plates are bonded to the bottom and top surfaces allowing the
isolator to be firmly connected to the foundation below and the superstructure above.
Vertical support due to the high vertical stiffness, which is usually several
hundred times the horizontal stiffness .Sufficient vertical stiffness is necessary to
avoid rocking of the structure.
Horizontal flexibility which shifts the fundamental frequency of the structure out
of the dangerous for resonance frequency range.
An energy dissipation mechanism, either via the plastic deformation of the lead
plug or through the inherent damping properties of high damping rubber.
Finally, there are also some systems that use natural rubber bearings (NRBs) with
additional steel or lead damper; in this case energy dissipation results from the plastic
deformations of the damper.
This type of bearing consists of thin layers of high damping rubber sandwiched
between steel plates. The same manufacturing methods for vulcanization and bonding
that are used for LRBs are also used to construct HDRBs. The only difference is the
composition of the rubber compound, which provides increased damping.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
However, HDRBs may not provide the necessary initial rigidity under service
loads and minor lateral loads, although some initial rigidity is provided by high-damping
rubber compounds which exhibit higher stiffness under small strains. A structure isolated
with HDRBs essentially has a constant, large fundamental period due to the flexibility of
the isolation system, which makes the structure vulnerable to wind action with dominant
frequencies close to the fundamental frequency. In addition, the damping and mechanical
properties of the HDRB appear to be temperature dependent while the hysteretic energy
dissipation mechanism of the LRB is not. HDRBs are not as widely used in seismic
isolation as LRBs.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
limited. LHDRBs offer a practical and cost-effective trade-off between the advantages
and limitations of LRBs and HDRBs.
An effective isolation system must have both viscous and hysteretic damping and
must ensure a continuous energy dissipation mechanism. The viscous damping, which is
velocity dependent, will ensure a continuous energy dissipation mechanism for both
severe earthquakes and micro tremors. Viscous damping may be provided by actual
viscous dampers or by rubber with inherent damping properties. The latter does not
actually provide such damping, which may, however, be assumed due to the rubber’s
smooth elliptical hysteresis loops during cyclic loading. The optimum viscous damping
ratio lies within 20 to 30%; higher values lead to increase in floor acceleration.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
The isolation system must remain operational for the world expected lifetime of
the structure under all possible environmental effects. These may corrode the metallic
parts of the isolation system and deteriorate the elastomer; such effects may be reduced
by using a protective rubber cover. The maintenance of the isolation system, and
especially that of the seismic gap, must be frequent to ensure the vertical loads which
they must sustain. When the construction of a diaphragm is not possible, the bearings
must be designed in proportion to the magnitude of the lateral forces carried by the
members above them. It is difficult to take into account such design issues due to the
uncertainties involved; therefore, the construction of a diaphragm above the isolation
level must be anticipated. Note that here, the existence of a rigid diaphragm is assumed.
Finally, the selected location of the bearings must be such that access to them is enabled
for inspection and possible replacement purposes.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
The first seismically isolated building with a rubber isolation system emerged in
1969 in Skopje, in former Yugoslavia. It is a three-story school building that rests on
solid blocks of rubber without the inner horizontal steel-reinforcing plates as is done
today.
The first seismically isolated building in the United States was the Foothill
Communities Law and Justice Center in Rancho Cucamonga, California, completed in
1985. It took some time until another isolated building was built in the United States. The
reason for the reluctance was quite simple: Seismic isolated structures did not find their
way into the building codes. Design professionals, on the other hand, were not able to
show any appreciable savings to their clients by using this system.
The first bridge structure that utilized an isolation system, with added damping,
was the Te Teko viaduct in New Zealand, built in 1988. The isolation system contains a
sandwich of laminated steel and rubber bearing layers with a central lead core for energy
dissipation. This type of isolation system, referred to as lead-rubber bearing, is now widely
used. The first building supplied with LRB isolation was the William Clayton Building in
Wellington, New Zealand, in 1981.
It is very useful, and is probably the only currently available technology that can
be used, to seismically upgrade historic structures or to protect very sensitive equipment
and the valuable contents of a building.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
10.Limitations:
Although seismic isolation is a very promising design method for dealing with
earthquake loads, it cannot be used for all structures and at all sites.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
NZ TECHNOLOGY
7 May 2003
The completion of the new earthquake resistant Bhuj District Hospital in India’s earthquake
prone Gujarat State is a particularly satisfying achievement for members of the Wellington-based
Earthquake Engineering NZ business cluster, says EENZ Chairman David Hopkins.
The 300-bed Bhuj hospital replaces the building that claimed 176 lives when it collapsed during
the major January 2001 Gujarat earthquake. This is the first new building in India to be fitted
with the earthquake-resistant NZ developed base-isolation technology. The hospital’s base
isolation design and bearings have been provided with the assistance of Earthquake Engineering
NZ members.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
A bi-lingual Hindi and English video has been made by Story!inc and Execam of the Creative
Capital Cluster of the achievement of rebuilding the new Bhuj hospital within two years of the
earthquake by India’s leading architects, engineers and construction firm working with the
assistance of New Zealand’s specialist earthquake engineering expertise. Trade NZ, Industry NZ
and Cluster members have sponsored the making of this video for use in India.
The Indian design team for the hospital has been led by architect Uday Pattanayak of EFN
Ribeiro Associates, New Delhi, and Structural Engineer Kamal Sabharwal. The construction
company is India’s largest, Larsen & Toubro. Cluster member Beca’s internationally renowned
seismic expert Richard Sharpe was working on a project in India at the time of the earthquake.
With the assistance of the New Zealand Government and support of the Earthquake Engineering
NZ cluster he was able to identify the reconstruction of the Bhuj hospital as a suitable project for
New Zealand’s earthquake engineering assistance. He recommended that the replacement
hospital be fitted with New Zealand developed base isolation lead rubber bearings. This robust
technology is well-suited to construction styles in India.
The New Zealand Government contributed $ 150,000 to the cost of the project base-isolation
feasibility study and design work as part of the initial disaster recovery stage. The Indian Prime
Minister’s Relief Fund funded the hospital construction, including the cost of the Robinson
Seismic Ltd bearings.
Other follow-up project opportunities In India worth several millions of dollars are being
pursued by members of the Earthquake Engineering NZ and associated Natural Hazards NZ
business clusters. These include further base-isolated building projects as well as several World
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
Mack Morum
Project Manager
12.Conclusion:
We can use base isolation technique to construct the earthquake resistant building.
Proper materials and design should be selected to get the best result. The safety of people
should be the main aim.
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Base Isolation – A Technique Earthquake Engineering
13. References:
P. Komodromos
Henry J. Lagorio
Charles K. Erdey
Earthquake Engineering.
Earthquake Engineering.
David Dowrick
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