Adaptive Curved Surface Slider for Improved Seismic Structural Performance

The design of conventional curved surface sliders (CSSs) uses appropriate selections of effective radius and friction coefficient. These two design parameters are commonly optimized for the design basis earthquake (DBE). As a consequence,, efficient structural isolation for weak and frequent earthquakes is hardly possible on the one hand and the isolator relative motion due to the maximum considered earthquake (MCE) becomes unacceptable large on the other hand. This trade-off problem is solved by adaptive stiffness and damping behaviors. The concept of the adaptive CSS is described, and its seismic performance is computed by nonlinear time history analysis using a nonlinear and experimentally validated model. The results demonstrate that the adaptive CSS significantly enhances seismic structural performance.