The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Experimental evaluation of seismic isolation of medium-rise structures subject to uplift

Griffith, Michael C.; Kelly, James M.; Coveney, V. A.; Koh, Chan Ghee

UCB/EERC-88/02, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1988-01, 168 pages (530/G75/1988)

Earthquake simulator tests were performed on a 1/5-scale, 7-story reinforced concrete structure with a height-to-width ratio of 1.23. The three main objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the feasibility of base isolation for medium-rise structures subject to column uplift during severe seismic loads; (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of base isolation for rehabilitation of damaged structures using a scale model previously tested to failure as a fixed-base structure, which had to be modified to accept the base isolation devices; and to determine, through testing, whether (3) lightweight, low-cost bearings would be suitable for base isolation of smaller structures and houses in less well-developed countries where earthquakes pose a major hazard. Test results were compared with values given by the tentative base isolation design provisions proposed by the Seismology Committee of the Structural Engineers Assn. of Northern California.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-88-02.pdf (14 MB)