Effective seismic response control of buildings with sliding bearings

A complete response investigation on behavior of conventional sliding bearings applicable to seismic-isolated structures has not yet been fully realized, while use of such bearings is a common practice. A Full Structural Response Investigation (FSRI) comprising energy dissipation, bearing’s effective and post-yield stiffness, displacements, story drifts, shear forces, accelerations and time instants for peak responses has been carried out on a ten-story RC building model with varied superstructure stiffness, and isolated by flat and curved surface sliders under different types of earthquakes. Disregarding some of the responses mentioned above FSRI can result in poor control of seismic isolation, since all the responses are observed to be affected by the type of earthquake and bearing’s slider surface. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that seismic isolation may not provide all desired responses, and in some situations, some responses may need to be of first priority owing to their beneficial effects.