Numerical simulation of base-isolated buildings in collisions with surrounding moat walls during earthquakes: a nonsmooth mechanics approach

Abstract

In this paper, we present a formulation and a numerical simulation method for earthquake-induced collisions between a seismically base-isolated building structure and its surrounding moat walls. The base isolator is assumed to undergo plastic deformation. We use the conventional shear building model for a superstructure. Based on nonsmooth mechanics, we formulate a measure differential inclusion that describes the time evolution of the entire structure. For numerical computation, we apply Moreau’s time-stepping scheme to the presented formulation. As a consequence, we solve a quadratic programming problem for each time-step. Our preliminary numerical experiments demonstrate that the presented method is more robust and numerically stable compared with the conventional Newmark method. We also present two numerical examples of mid-rise base-isolated building structures.