THE ROLE OF LATERAL SEISMIC RESTRAINT BEARINGS IN THE ISOLATION OF LARGE AUDITORIA

摘要

With the increasing practice of constructing large auditoria in infill sites of cities where significant sources of ground-borne vibration such as subways, trams, buses and trucks are common, it has been necessary to develop isolation designs to achieve appropriate interior background noise levels. Lateral support for wind and seismic loads is achieved via preloaded lateral support resilient bearings positioned in equal and opposite pairs in both directions. The lateral loads are transmitted uniformly to the supporting columns and/or the base foundation by the structural floor above the bearings functioning as a transfer slab by keeping those always in compression regardless of load or deflection. The history of the development of the equal and opposite preloaded rubber bearing pair concept for lateral restraint is presented along with examples of successful application to large auditoria and other structures.