Compared with base isolation, floor isolation designed for one floor of the structure is a cost-effective alternative to protect a group of valuable equipment. There are some unique features in designing the floor isolation, including: (1) Moving in and out of equipment on the floor is sometimes necessary, and in these situations, the weight of the system changes and it will significantly influence the characteristics of the floor isolation, such as the damping ratio. (2) To save more usable area to place equipment, the clearance between the floor isolation and surrounding walls is usually smaller than that in base isolation. Design of floor isolation should ensure that the displacement of floor isolation be controlled when subjected to long period motions. It should also ensure the acceleration of the floor isolation be mitigated so as to protect the equipment, especially when subjected to short period motions, To solve the difficulties in designing the floor isolation, a floor isolation system with semi-active control is proposed and investigated.
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