Recent Research and Application of Seismic Vibration

Control Techniques

A. Martelli
Head, Section on Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Risks (PREV), ENEA, Bologna; Professor, Faculty of
Architecture, University of Ferrara; Chairman, Gruppo di Lavoro Isolamento Sismico (GLIS) and Anti-Seismic
Systems International Society (ASSISi), c/o ENEA, Bologna, Italy
M. Forni
ENEA-PREV, Bologna; Technical Secretary, GLIS; Founding Member, Assisi, Italy

Nowadays, most modern techniques for the control of seismic vibrations – namely seismic isolation,
passive energy dissipation and systems formed by shock transmitters or shape memory alloy devices –
are considered to be already fully mature technologies of providing a mitigation of seismic damage for
civil structures and equipment and have proven to be reliable and cost-effective for bridges and
viaducts, civil buildings, cultural heritage and critical facilities. There are already approximately 3,000
applications of such techniques in various countries, which concern not only new constructions, but
also several retrofits of existing, frequently important, structures. This paper summarizes the most
recent development and application of the aforesaid techniques, according to the results of the 7th
International Seminar on Seismic Isolation, Passive Energy Dissipation and Active Control of
Vibrations of Structures, held at Assisi (Italy) in October 2001, and newer information.
KEYWORDS: Seismic isolation (SI), Passive energy dissipation (ED), Shock transmitters (STs),
Shape memory alloys (SMAs), New constructions, Seismic retrofit.