Feasibility Analysis of SMA-Based Damping Devices for Use in Seismic Isolation of Low-Rise Frame Buildings

For seismic isolated buildings, the isolators should be able to control peak deformation and have good restoring ability to return the building to its original position. Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are known for their properties of energy dissipation and deformation recovery, which make them appealing for use in isolation systems. To this end, the feasibility of SMA-based damping devices for use in an isolation system of low-rise frame buildings is studied in this paper. Numerical analyses were conducted and compared for buildings installed with SMA-based bearings (SMABs) and lead-rubber bearings (LRBs). A two-mass isolated frame building installed with these bearings was subjected to earthquakes corresponding to multilevel seismic hazards. The results show that the SMABs offer comparable seismic hazard mitigation efficacy to that of the LRBs while successfully restoring the building to the rest position after the earthquake. Furthermore, adding the energy dissipation capacity and properly using the strain hardening behavior of the SMAs are favorable for controlling isolation deformation while protecting the superstructure. The strain hardening behavior of the SMABs is beneficial for controlling deformation at the isolator level, which can still maintain isolation efficacy.