A generic model for evaluating the performance of base-isolated buildings

Abstract

Ground-borne vibration has existed ever since the development of urban road and rail networks. Vibration generated by the moving traffic propagates through the ground and into buildings, resulting in unacceptable levels of internal noise and vibration. A common solution to this increasingly significant problem is the base-isolation of buildings by incorporating vibration isolation bearings between the buildings and their foundations. This technique has been employed for over forty years but the exact performance of base isolation remains uncertain. This paper describes a generic computational model; generic in that it accounts for the essential dynamic behaviour of a typical base-isolated building in order to make predictions of isolation performance. The model is a linear one, formulated in the frequency domain, and consists of a two-dimensional portal- frame model of a building coupled to a three-dimensional boundary-element model of a piled-foundation. Both components of the model achieve computational...