Abstract
Base isolation systems are used to protect objects from damage due to seismic motion propagating from the ground on which they are supported. Although base isolation systems with low-stiffness laminated rubber bearings or roller bearings show a significant decrease in response acceleration, they may generate large lateral displacements when subjected to earthquakes waves. Such large displacements may exceed the available space, thus limiting the practical applicability. This study proposes a base isolation system incorporated with a so called "gyro-mass" device and a friction slider arranged in series. Numerical studies indicate that this system shows a significant decrease in response displacement as well as almost the same response acceleration as a conventional base isolation system.
