Animated control of structural base isolation system

Base isolation has been well known as an innovative means of providing earthquake resistance to a structure. Over the last two decades, much progress has been made in research and application of base isolation. However, the trade off between the extent of acceleration reduction and base travel of a base isolation system, the deformation across the isolation system, has not been given serious consideration. This paper presents a new concept of base isolation, which adopts the technique of Real-time Structural Parameters Modification (RSPM). An analytical model and some simulation issues are discussed. A small shaking table and a model system are designed and fabricated. Several types of shaking table tests are conducted. Comparison between simulation and test results is presented.