Performance of Semi-Active Base Isolation Systems under External Explosion

Structures designed against earthquake loads based on using control systems may experience explosions during their lifetime. In this paper, the performance of a hybrid control system composed of a low-damping base isolation and a supplemental magneto-rheological (MR) damper under external explosion has been studied. Base isolation system has the ability of decreasing the maximum structural response under blast loadings by shifting the period of the structure. In addition, MR damper improves the base isolation system performance by controlling the base drift of the structure. Hence, in this paper, the capability of a hybrid base isolation system equipped with an MR damper at the base has been evaluated in reducing the maximum structural response and base drift under external blast loadings. To determine the voltage of the semi-active MR damper, the H₂/Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) and clipped-optimal control algorithms have been applied. For numerical simulations, a 10-storey shear frame subjected to blast loadings applied on different floors has been considered and the performance of the hybrid isolation system and MR damper has been studied. The results have proven the effectiveness of the hybrid control system in controlling the maximum response and base drift of the isolated structure against spherical external explosion. Furthermore, comparing the performance of the hybrid passive and semi-active base isolation systems indicates that the semi-active hybrid base isolation system is more effective in reducing the root-mean-square (RMS) value of the base drift. Similarly, it has been found that the semi-active hybrid base isolation system also performs better than the high-damping base isolation system.