EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISON BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL AND INNOVATIVE BASE ISOLATION SYSTEMS ON A 1:2.5 SCALED REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAME

摘要

The main aspects of an experimental investigation to study the seismic up-grading of existing reinforced concrete framed buildings, using the seismic isolation approach, are presented in this paper. The experimental investigation is being carried out at the Laboratory of the Department of Structures, Soil Mechanics and Engineering Geology (DiSGG) of the University of Basilicata (USB), in collaboration with the Italian National Seismic Survey. It is made on a 1:2.5 scaled 3D frame, designed and built for vertical loads only, using the pseudodynamic technique. The goals of the research are the evaluation and comparison of the effectiveness of several base isolation techniques, that use conventional seismic isolation devices (rubber isolators or steel hysteretic devices coupled with sliders that carry the vertical loads) and innovative ones (re-centring devices with shape memory alloys). The technological aspects related to the application of seismic isolation to existing R/C buildings are also considered in the present paper.