Title: Seismic assessment of base-isolated reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames

Authors: Said Hicham Boukhalkhal; Mohamed Badaoui; Abdallah Yacine Rahmani

Addresses: Built Environment Research Laboratory, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene of Algiers (USTHB), BP.32 El-Alia, Bab Ezzouar 16111 Algiers, Algeria ' Department of Civil Engineering, Laboratory of Mechanics and Materials Development, University of Djelfa, Djelfa 17000, P.O.B. 3117, Algeria ' Department of Civil Engineering, Seismic Engineering and Structural Dynamics Laboratory, National Polytechnic School, Algiers, Algeria University of M'sila, M'sila, Algeria

Abstract: Until now, the Algerian seismic code has provided no guidance on how to design base-isolated structures. This work was done in order to propose including this technology in future versions of the seismic code. The present paper assesses the seismic performance of two types of buildings, conventional (fixed-base) and base-isolated, designed according to the Algerian seismic code RPA99/2003 using the capacity spectrum method (CSM). Herein, the influence of seismic isolators on the seismic behaviour of buildings is estimated. The nonlinear constitutive laws of the structural components and seismic isolators were derived and incorporated into the analysis. The comparative study carried out on the structure with and without the base-isolation, system highlighted the effect of seismic isolators on the reduction of seismic demands such as the base shear forces and the story drifts. The results also show that the use of seismic isolators is disadvantageous for tall buildings.

Keywords: pushover analysis; lead rubber bearings; LRB; seismic base isolation; capacity spectrum method; seismic performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2024.136895

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2024 Vol.14 No.1, pp.63 - 83

Received: 01 Jul 2023
Accepted: 18 Sep 2023
Published online: 26 Feb 2024 *

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