A Study of Self Powered Active Seismic Isolation Floor Device Using Rotational Inertia Mass Damper

Abstract

In recent years, active seismic isolations have been developed actively, but they have a problem of running when external power supply is cut off. To solve this problem, we proposed a self-powered active seismic isolation floor device based on the idea of electric power regeneration. This device can control using regenerated vibration energy from earthquakes, and doesn’t require external energy to produce control force. However, when long-period earthquakes occur, this device can’t regenerate enough electric power to decrease vibration of equipment. The aim of this paper is to propose a new model using a rotating inertia mass damper (inerter) which can decrease vibration of equipment and regenerate electric power more effectively than the previous model. The inerter is a mechanical element corresponding to capacitor in electrical circuits. In this paper, we compared the response and amount of energy regeneration of previous model with those of the new model adding inerter to the previous model. By using its characteristic of rotation of the spindle, the effect of electric power regeneration can be improved for long-period earthquakes. We discuss the usefulness of inerter in self-powered active isolation floor device for long-period earthquakes.