Effect of the Static Coefficient of Friction of Curved Surface Sliders on the Response of an Isolated Building

ABSTRACT

Effective implementation of the static friction of sliding isolators in object-oriented software for structural design has not yet been achieved, and use of the dynamic friction only for design is common practice. A modeling strategy to account for the contribution of static friction under unidirectional ground motion histories has been developed and used to assess its effects on the response of a building isolated with curved surface sliders. Under low-to-moderate intensity earthquakes, disregarding static friction can lead to unpredictable response of the isolation system and result in a non-conservative evaluation of accelerations and forces transferred to the superstructure.

KEYWORDS:

• Seismic Isolation
• Curved Surface Slider
• Static Friction Coefficient
• Breakaway
• Nonlinear Response History Analysis
• Opensees

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC) in the frame of the national Research Project DPC–ReLUIS (National Network of Laboratories of Seismic Engineering) 2014–2018, Line 6–Isolation and Dissipation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC) in the frame of the national Research Project DPC–ReLUIS 2014–2018, Line 6–Isolation and Dissipation.