LATERAL-FORCE-RESISTING SYSTEMS

Base Isolation
Base isolation is a strategy involving the separation or
isolation of the building from its foundation in such a way
that it can absorb the shock of an earthquake. As the
ground moves, the building moves at a lower frequency
• Story drift refers to the relative
because the isolators dissipate a large part of the shock.
horizontal displacement between
In this approach, the building structure is decoupled from
adjacent floors of a building.
the horizontal components of the earthquake ground
motion by interposing a layer with low horizontal stiffness
• Conventional structures are subject to
between the structure and foundation, thereby reducing
large amounts of drift and deformation
the resulting inertia force the structure must resist.
from seismic ground accelerations,
which are amplified at the upper
Currently, the most commonly used base isolator consists
floors.
of alternating layers of natural rubber or neoprene and
steel bonded together, with a cylinder of pure lead tightly
inserted through the middle. The rubber layers allow the
isolator to easily displace horizontally, reducing the seismic
loads experienced by the building and its occupants. They
also act as a spring, returning the building to its original
position once the shaking has stopped. The vulcanization
bonding of rubber sheets to thin steel reinforcing plates
allows the flexibility to occur in the horizontal direction but
remain very stiff in the vertical direction. Vertical loads are
transmitted to the structure relatively unchanged.

Base isolation systems are generally suitable for stiff

buildings up to about seven stories in height; taller
buildings would be subject to overturning, which base
isolation systems cannot mitigate. Recently, however, taller
buildings have benefited from base isolation. Buildings
• Small structural deflection with
normally require the isolated period to be 2.5 to 3 times
negligible story drift
that of the typical non-isolated building.

• The building must be designed to act

as a rigid unit and have flexible utility
connections to accommodate the
movement.

• Base isolation bearings should,

within reason, be located at the
same elevation. Stepped footings
on hillsides or sloping sites are poor
candidates for base isolation.

232 / BUILDING STRUCTURES ILLUSTRATED