Title: A computer controlled system for earthquake protection of structures

Authors: H. Kaplan, A. Seireg

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1513 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706-1572, USA. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1513 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706-1572, USA

Abstract: This paper investigates the feasibility of developing an active system for the protection of structures against earthquakes. The system is incorporated in a specially designed supporting base. A computer simulation of the system is utilised for selecting the design parameters of the base and the supporting elements. The system is controlled according to pre-programmed rules in order to minimise the forces transmitted to the structure. The inputs to the controller are the signals from appropriately placed off-site seismic detectors. A single degree of freedom structure is considered to represent the fundamental vibratory mode of the structure which is generally responsible for the largest component of its dynamic response to ground excitation. An illustrative example shows that the proposed system is implementable and can result in orders of magnitude reduction in the transmitted force to the structure. It can also minimise the torsional effects resulting from any arbitrary distribution of the mass for non-symmetrical structures.

Keywords: computer control; earthquake protection; transmitted force; active systems; isolation system; spherical supports.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2000.000221

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2000 Vol.13 No.1/2, pp.25-41

Published online: 13 Jul 2003 *

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