Simulation of the earthquake-induced pounding of seismically isolated buildings

Abstract

Seismic isolation can significantly reduce the induced seismic loads to a relatively stiff building by inserting flexibility at its base to avoid resonance with the predominant frequencies of common earthquakes. Sometimes the width of the provided seismic gap to facilitate the large relative displacements at the isolation level of a seismically isolated building is limited. Hence, there is a possibility of poundings of the building with adjacent structures during strong earthquakes. This work investigates, through numerical simulations using a specially developed software, how potential poundings of seismically isolated buildings with adjacent structures affects the effectiveness of seismic isolation.