Design Force Transmitted By Isolation System Composed of Lead-rubber Bearings and Viscous Dampers

In seismic isolation design of structures located at soft soil sites or near field areas, viscous dampers (VD) are often included as part of the isolation system to minimize its maximum displacement. Due to the 90° phase angle existing between the force and displacement of the VD, the maximum force transmitted by the isolation system cannot be calculated by simply combining the forces of the isolation bearings, such as lead-rubber bearings (LRB) or high damping rubber bearings (HDRB), and VD in association with the design displacement. Conforming to the code-specified equivalent lateral response procedure for isolation design, this paper presents a formula for determining the seismic design force of the combined LRB and VD isolation system, taking into account the phase angle between the combined force of the LRB and VD and the displacement of the isolation system. The numerical results have shown that the maximum responses of the isolation system predicted by the proposed formula are conservative and comparable with those from the inelastic dynamic response history analysis.