Seismic Vibration Control of Strategic Equipments Using Semi-Active Sliding Isolation Systems

Critical and sensitive non-structural components need to be protected against various types of earthquake excitations. For these purposes, using proper control strategies is inevitable for protecting them against the seismic vibrations. This study examines the performance of a semi-active control strategy for the equipments installed on the frictional isolator. In order to control the frictional resistance level at the interface of sliding system, the piezoelectric materials are used. The piezoelectric materials adjust this threshold force by providing varying compression axial forces. The LQR controller is used as the control algorithm. For a numerical simulation, a ten-story building frame with the equipment located at the middle story is considered. The main structure as the primary system is modeled as a shear frame that has one lateral degree of freedom at each story level and the equipment is modeled as the secondary system. Results demonstrate that piezoelectric based smart frictional isolator has significant effects in reducing the seismic responses of the secondary system in comparison with the passive frictional isolator

Keywords:

Semi-active control , sliding isolation system , Piezoelectric , LQR controller