Behaviour of asymmetric structure with base isolation made of polymeric bearings

Abstract

Earthquake-induced ground motions are the most severe and unpredictable threats to the structures all around the world. Seismic excitations cause a lot of damage in a wide variety of ways, leaving thousands of casualties in their wake. Due to randomness of earthquake occurrence, lack of visible causes and their power of destructiveness, structural engineers need to develop new technical solutions and protection systems against earthquake forces and their devastating effects in order to minimize loss of life and property damage. Accordingly, designing seismic-resistant structures became an issue of great importance in many seismically active regions of the world. This concerns especially designing asymmetric structures, since their response under earthquake excitations is much more complex and often difficult to be predicted comparing with the symmetric ones. The present paper reports the results obtained from detailed finite-element analysis on a dynamic response of a base-isolated asymmetric multi-storey steel building under various seismic excitations. The numerical investigation aims to verify the effectiveness of Polymeric Bearings in suppressing vibrations of asymmetric structures under strong earthquakes.