Influence of Vertical Ground Shaking on Horizontal Response of Seismically Isolated Buildings with Friction Bearings

Abstract

This paper focuses on a horizontal-vertical coupling effect observed in a full-scale shake table experiment of a 5-story moment frame building isolated with triple pendulum bearings. A significant increase or amplification of the horizontal floor accelerations was observed during three-dimensional (3D) shaking compared to XY (horizontal only) shaking with comparable input motions. The coupling phenomenon is explained by analytical and numerical simulation of a single degree-of-freedom (rigid mass) structure and multistory cantilever structure subjected to simplified sinusoidal motions, both isolated with triple pendulum bearings. The results of the simplified numerical study are extended to explain the horizontal-vertical coupling in the full-scale experiment, which are also validated by numerical modeling of the test structure. The vertical component of ground acceleration is shown to introduce a high-frequency component into the base shear that can excite higher modes of the base-isolated structure. The phenomenon is possible in any multistory structure isolated with friction bearings, and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.