Seismic protection of rocking structures with inerters
File(s)J23_Rocking_protection_inerters.pdf (4.53 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Thiers-Moggia, Rodrigo
Malaga Chuquitaype, Christian
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The seismic behaviour of a wide variety of structures can be characterized by the rocking response of rigid blocks. Nevertheless, suitable seismic control strategies are presently limited and consist mostly on preventing rocking motion all together, which may induce undesirable stress concentrations and lead to impractical interventions. In this paper, we investigate the potential advantages of using supplemental rotational inertia to mitigate the effects of earthquakes on rocking structures. The newly proposed strategy employs inerters, which are mechanical devices that develop resisting forces proportional to the relative acceleration between their terminals and can be combined with a clutch to ensure their rotational inertia is only employed to oppose the motion. We demonstrate that the inclusion of the inerter effectively reduces the frequency parameter of the block, resulting in lower rotation seismic demands and enhanced stability due to the well-known size effects of the rocking behaviour. The effects of the inerter and inerter-clutch devices on the response scaling and similarity are also studied. An examination of their overturning fragility functions reveals that inerter-equipped structures experience reduced probabilities of overturning in com- parison with un-controlled bodies, while the addition of a clutch further improves their seismic stability. The concept advanced in this paper is particularly attractive for the protection of rocking bodies as it opens the possibility of non-locally modifying the dynamic response of rocking structures without altering their geometry.
Date Issued
2019-04-25
Date Acceptance
2018-12-01
Citation
Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 2019, 48 (5), pp.528-547
ISSN
0098-8847
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
528
End Page
547
Journal / Book Title
Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics
Volume
48
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eqe.3147
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Engineering, Civil
Engineering, Geological
Engineering
clutch
dimensional analysis
inerter
pulse-like ground motion
rocking motion
seismic control
BEHAVIOR
PERFORMANCE
STABILITY
PENDULUM
MOTION
PULSE
BLOCK
Strategic, Defence & Security Studies
0905 Civil Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-12-27