Use of a Viscoelastic Model for the Seismic Response of Base-Isolated Buildings

Abstract

Due to recent developments in elastomer technology, seismic isolation using elastomer bearings is rapidly becoming an acceptable design tool to enhance structural seismic margins and to protect people and equipment from earthquake damage. With proper design of isolators, high-energy seismic input motions can be transformed into low-frequency, low-energy harmonic motions, and the accelerations acting on the isolated building may be significantly reduced. Several alternatives exist for the modeling of the isolators. This study is concerned with the use of a viscoelastic model to predict the seismic response of base-isolated buildings. The in-house finite element computer code, SISEC has been modified to incorporate a viscoelastic spring element, and several simulations are performed. Then, the computed results have been compared with the corresponding observed data recorded at the test facility.