Study on the Influence of Aspect Ratio on the Seismic Response and Overturning Resistance of a New Staggered Story Isolated Structure

The aspect ratio of the structure has a significant impact on the overall stability of the ultra high-rise building. A large aspect ratio of the structure increases the risk of overturning and reduces the lateral stiffness of the structure, leading to significant tensile and compressive stresses in the isolated bearings. To study the effect of aspect ratio on the seismic response and overturning resistance of a new staggered story isolated structure, three models with different aspect ratios were established. Nonlinear time-history analysis of the three models was conducted using ETABS finite element software. The results indicate that the overturning moment and overturning resistance moment of the superstructure in the new staggered story isolated structure increase with an increasing aspect ratio. However, the increase in the overturning moment of the superstructure is much greater than the increase in the overturning resistance moment, resulting in a decrease in the overturning resistance ratio of the superstructure with an increasing aspect ratio. The overturning moment and overturning resistance moment of the substructure in the new staggered story isolated structure decrease with an increasing aspect ratio. However, the decrease in the overturning moment of the substructure is greater than the decrease in the overturning resistance moment, leading to an increase in the overturning resistance ratio of the substructure with an increasing aspect ratio. The decrease in the overturning resistance ratio of the superstructure in the new staggered story isolated structure is much greater than the increase in the overturning resistance ratio of the substructure. Therefore, as the aspect ratio of the overall structure increases, the overturning resistance ratio of the superstructure and the entire structure decreases.

Aseismic smart building isolation systems under multi-level earthquake excitations： Part II, energy-dissipation and damage reduction

Based on the performance results of the previously suggested smart building isolation systems （lst companion paper）, this following study verifies the control effects of the systems from the view point of energy dissipation and damage level metrics. Several different model cases of the strategically isolated multi-story building structures utilizing passive dampers and semi-active resettable devices are analyzed and the energy-based target indices are compared. Performance comparisons are conducted on statistically calculated story/structural hysteretic energy and story/structural damage demands over realistic suites of earthquake ground motion records, representing seismic excitations of specific return period probability. Again, the semi-active solutions show significant promise for applications ofresettable device, offering advantages over passive systems in the consistent damage reductions. The specific results of this study include the identification of differences in the mechanisms by which smart building isolation systems remove energy, based on the differences in the devices used. Less variability is also seen for the semi-active isolation systems, indicating an increased robustness.