High-performance isolation systems with rate-independent linear damping for seismic protection of high-rise buildings

Abstract

There is currently growing concern within the earthquake engineering community regarding the potential for base-isolated structures to experience significant responses during extreme earthquakes. This concern is primarily driven by the observation that induced ground motions can contain influential long-period components, which may exacerbate the structural response. Supplementing damping using conventional damping devices contributed to a significant reduction in the responses whereas perhaps compromises the effects of base isolation itself when subjected to more frequently occurring short-period ground motions, particularly for base-isolated high-rise building structure. The present study employs rate-independent linear damping (RILD) to control the seismic response of high-rise building structures subjected to both short- and long-period ground motions. RILD is a damping mechanism that exerts a control force that is independent of the vibration frequency under harmonic deformation. This method is implemented in conjunction with isolators to achieve the desired control objectives. For passive realization of RILD, both the Maxwell-negative-stiffness (MNS) and modified tuned Maxwell–Wiechert (MTMW) models were considered. A regression technique is presented in this study to optimally design the properties of the MTMW model, and a recursive formulation is developed to conduct structural response history analyses efficiently. The proposed method for seismic protection of high-rise structures was demonstrated using a 20-story benchmark building structure as the analytical model. This approach serves to illustrate the advantages of the proposed method in a practical context. Both short- and long-period ground motions are used for examining the performance of rate-independent damping models incorporated into base-isolated high-rise structures. The findings suggest that the combined isolation systems, in conjunction with rate-independent linear damping (RILD), offer significantly enhanced protection against conventional short-period ground motions, without sacrificing performance during long-period ground motions. Compared to commonly utilized isolation systems, this approach demonstrates superior performance in safeguarding high-rise structures.