Influence of sliding velocity and contact pressure on the seismic response of base isolated structures

This study is performed to evaluate the effect of changes in the coefficient of friction of the seismic response of frictional base isolated buildings. The building is modeled as a simplified single-story structure resting on a sliding support. A node to point contact element is used for modeling frictional isolation. The frictional forces mobilized at the sliding support are assumed to have a hysteretic plasticity behavior. The effects of coupling of stiffnesses of orthogonal directions between he sliding planes have been taken into consideration. The three-component earthquake analysis of the system is performed for EI Centro 1940 and Northridge 1994 earthquakes. The response of the system with that when the coefficient of friction is a function of sliding velocity and contact pressure. It is found that the changes of the coefficient of friction can highly affect the response of a frictional isolated structure.

Keywords:

frictional base isolated structure , three - component earthquake , friction coefficient , sliding velocity , contact pressure