CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Over the past decades, earthquake resistant design of building structures has been
largely based on a ductility design concept worldwide. The performances of the
intended ductile structure during major earthquakes
Seismologists and earthquake engineers have sought to understand and predict
earthquakes and to develop better building designs to withstand hem for well over a
century.
The last decade of 2
th
century has seen much progress in comprehending the
source processes of !ndian earthquakes. "s earthquake causes much destruction, we
cannot prevent it from striking but its effect can be minimi#ed. $ngineers have developed
a number of ways to build earthquake resistant structure. !n the areas where earthquake
are likely, knowing where to build and how to build can help reduce injury, loss of life
and property damage during a earthquake. %nowing what to do when a quake strikes can
also help prevent injuries and deaths.
There are various methods and technologies are developed to resist the effect of
earthquake. These technologies are used during the construction. The techniques range
from e&tremely simple to fairly comple&. "lso after the destruction caused due to natural
disaster such as earthquake, there are various technologies available which helps to
reconstruct the new structure which is safe from the effect of earthquake.
!n contrast, we can say that the basic approach underlying more advanced
techniques for earthquake resistant is not to strength the building, but to reduce the
earthquake'generated forces acting upon it. (y de'coupling the structure from seismic
ground motion it is possible to reduce the earthquake induced forces in it. This can be
done in two ways'
). !ncrease natural period of structure by *("S$ !SO+"T!O,-.
2. !ncreased damping of the system by *$,$./0 1SS!2"T!,/ 1$3!4$S-.
The traditional engineering design strategy based on increasing design capacity
and stiffness to accommodate foreseeable lateral forces may not be the efficient solution.
The problem with the later all seismic forces from the ground will be absorbed by the
superstructure. The base isolation strategy is opposite of traditional engineering design
strategy. (ase isolation is a system that protects the building from damaging effect of
seismic movement. !f the structure separates from the ground during an earthquake the
ground is moving but structure is still dormant. The current technology that is active and
e&panding is the introduction of low lateral stiffness support that isolates the structure
from the ground movement.
1.2 Seismic base isolation
1uring earthquakes, the conventional structure without seismic isolation is
subjected to substantial story drifts, which may lead to damage or even collapse of
building. 5hereas the isolated structure vibrates almost like a rigid body with large
deformation or displacements endured by the isolation bearings, as illustrated bellow.
The lateral forces of the isolated building are not only reduced in magnitude but also
fairly redistributed over the floors, which further mitigates the overturning moment
of structure.
1ue to the fle&ibility in the structure, reinforced concrete building becomes
e&tremely fle&ible. The isolators are often designed, to absorb energy and thus add
damping to the system. This helps in further reducing the seismic response of the
building. 6any of the base isolators look like large rubber pads, although there are
other types that are based on sliding of one part of the building relative to other. "lso,
base isolation is not suitable for all buildings. 6ostly low to medium rise buildings
rested on hard soil underneath7 high'rise buildings or buildings rested on soft soil are
not suitable for base isolation.
i!.No.2.1 "ase Isolation Tec#ni$ue
8ig ).2 (ase isolation technique
1.2.1 Need o% base Isolation
" practical seismic isolation system should meet the following three requirements9
Sufficient hori#ontal fle&ibility to increase the structural period and spectral
demands, e&cept for very soft soil sites.
Sufficient energy dissipation capacity to limit the displacements across the
isolators to a practical level.
"dequate rigidity to make the isolated building no different from a fi&ed'base
building under general service loading.
6ost commonly used seismic isolating systems can satisfy all the above
requirements. 4ertainly, if the seismic isolating system can be equipped with fail'
safe devices for avoiding the total collapse of the isolated structure in cases where
e&cessive displacements occur, then the system will most likely be satisfactory.
1.2.2 Suitabilit& o% base isolation
(ase isolation is only recommended for mid'rise structure i.e. less than 2 storey
or structure with a height to width ratio less than one. This is because base
isolation is designed to resist lateral shear forces and not to carry moments.
(ase isolation is recommended for rigid structures that can act as single degree of
freedom. Otherwise the framing system will act as multiple degrees of freedom
with different frequencies. !n this case the building will collapse.
+ateral loads due to wind are less than appro&imately ): of the weight of the
structure.
1.2.' (or)in! Princi*le+

To get a basic idea of how base isolation works, first e&amine the ;fig 2.)<. This
shows an earthquake acting on base isolated building and a conventional, fi&ed'base, and
building. "s a result of an earthquake, the ground beneath each building begins to move.
!n ;fig 2.)< it is shown moving to left. $ach building responds with movement which
tends towards the right. The buildings displacement in the direction opposite the ground
motion is actually due to inertia. The inertia forces acting on a building are the most
important of all those generated during an earthquake.
!n addition to displacing towards right, the un'isolated building is also shown to
be changing its shape from a rectangle to a parallelogram. 5e say that the building is
deforming. The primary cause of earthquake damage to buildings is the deformation
which the building undergoes as a result of the inertial forces upon it.
The base'isolated building retains its original, rectangular shape. The base
isolated building itself escapes the deformation and damage'which implies that the
inertial forces acting on the base isolated building have been reduced. $&periments and
observations of base'isolated buildings in earthquakes to as little as = of the acceleration
of comparable fi&ed'base buildings.
"cceleration is decreased because the base isolation system lengthens a
buildings period of vibration, the time it takes for a building to rock back and forth and
then back again. "nd in general, structures with longer periods of vibration tend to reduce
acceleration, while those with shorter periods tend to increase or amplify acceleration.

1.' Ob,ecti-e o% t#e Pro,ect
The object of the present work is to study the base isolation technique as applied
to .44 Structure. To investigate the effectiveness of providing base isolators in structure
as compared to conventional fi&ed base structure.
1.. Sco*e o% t#e Pro,ect
To study the base isolation technique as applied to structures.