The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Experimental results of an earthquake isolation system using natural rubber bearings

Eidinger, John M.; Kelly, James M.

UCB/EERC-78/03, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1978-02, 55 pages (530/E36/1978)

This report describes the experimental results of a series of earthquake simulation tests on an earthquake isolation system based on natural rubber bearings. Three forms of isolation system were used. Since the primary purpose of the test program was to examine the effect of damping in the isolation system, the essential difference between the three forms was the level of the damping in the system. A large number of simulated earthquake motions were used in the tests, including El Centro 1940, Taft 1950, Parkfield 1966, and Pacoima Dam 1971. The natural rubber bearings reduced the forces and overturning moments to approximately one-tenth of those in a conventionally fixed structure, and the results demonstrated the practical possibility of this type of isolation system for full-scale buildings.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-78-03.pdf (5 MB)