Application od Base Isolation as a Seismic Retrofitting Techniques

Seismic performance of reinforced concrete structures is indeed one of the most critical points when it comes to human life safety. For many years, scientists were trying to find a way to accurately assess the structural behavior of buildings under severe earthquake records, and to implement a way to improves the performance of the structure. This study is aiming to evaluate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete structures using two main methods which are the equivalent lateral load method and the time history analysis to assess the performance of the building and define the deficiency points. Thereafter a retrofitting strategy is planned to be handled through the applications of different types of base isolations ( lead core rubber bearing, flat sliding bearing, and friction pendulum bearing) on an existed low-rise building to check the capability of the isolators to improve the building performance against earthquake records, and to check how isolators are capable of decreasing the story accelerations in the higher stories, which helps in reducing the damage of the nonstructural elements. Results indicate that lead core rubber bearing isolator show the maximum reduction for the accelerations in the higher stories which reflect its outstanding performance with the respect the other considered types.