ASSESSMENT OF A ROLLER SEISMIC ISOLATION BEARING FOR BUILDINGS UNDER BIDIRECTIONAL EXCITATIONS

Resumo

This work presents the assessment of a base isolation bearing system for seismic protection of
buildings under bidirectional excitations. The isolation system consists of roller supports that move on
inclined V-shaped surfaces plus an energy dissipation system. The orthogonal arrangement of the roller
supports seeks to isolate seismically the building in its main directions, while the dissipation system
controls the horizontal displacements of the isolator. Experimental tests of free vibration allowed to
identify damping of the isolation system. Besides, accelerations record was found through bidirectional
and unidirectional test. By the other hand, numerical responses were obtained with the motion equation
solution and these responses were correlated with the experimental accelerations of the system in both
directions. According to the experimental and numerical results, it was possible to conclude that the
isolation system is viable for analysis in the seismic protection of buildings subjected to real records of
earthquakes.