Abstract
Two new buildings at Wanganui Hospital, a peri-operative facility and an acute services block, have just been completed in June 2008 using RoGliders to provide seismic isolation in this earthquake prone region. This is the first application of the RoGlider, an isolator suitable for light structures providing in one compact unit the functions of support, damping and the required restoring force, while providing for a maximum displacement of ± 400 mm. The RoGlider provides for economical seismic protection under conditions not suitable for lead rubber bearings i.e. a combination of light vertical loads and large horizontal displacements.
Highlights
In New Zealand, hospital buildings housing buildings emergency related facilities are classed as having a post disaster function and must be designed to be completely functional after a 1 in 500 year earthquake and to remain safe after a 1 in 2,500 year event thereby enabling staff and patients to be evacuated safely
Since the invention of the Lead Rubber Bearing (Robinson & Tucker 1977), (Robinson 1982) in 1974 and its first application in bridges (1976) and buildings (1981), all in New Zealand, the application of seismic isolation has expanded rapidly with more than 5,000 structures worldwide, the majority isolated by Lead Rubber Bearings (Skinner et al 1993), (Kelly et al 1999) (Robinson 2005), (Kelly et al in press)
There have been three seismically isolated structures with Lead Rubber Bearings which have been tested in a number of major earthquakes including – University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles (Magnitude 6.7 Northridge (USA) Earthquake, 1994) (Schiff 1995), Bay of Plenty bridge (Magnitude 6.6 Edgecumbe (New Zealand) Earthquake, 1987) a tele-communications building Kobe (Magnitude 6.9 Kobe, (Japan) Earthquake, 1995)
Summary
In New Zealand, hospital buildings housing buildings emergency related facilities are classed as having a post disaster function and must be designed to be completely functional after a 1 in 500 year earthquake and to remain safe after a 1 in 2,500 year event thereby enabling staff and patients to be evacuated safely. There have been three seismically isolated structures with Lead Rubber Bearings which have been tested in a number of major earthquakes including – University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles (Magnitude 6.7 Northridge (USA) Earthquake, 1994) (Schiff 1995), Bay of Plenty bridge (Magnitude 6.6 Edgecumbe (New Zealand) Earthquake, 1987) a tele-communications building Kobe (Magnitude 6.9 Kobe, (Japan) Earthquake, 1995). In tests bearings have safely operated out to displacements greater than their diameters but for safety a conservative approach is taken Because of this limitation on the Lead Rubber Bearing and the need for a less expensive isolator the RoGlider was developed, that is an isolator which is able to handle large displacements under light vertical loads
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