Behavior of a base-isolated residential house in a highly seismic region

A base isolation system is an effective engineering method for reducing seismic impacts by isolating an upper structure from soil vibration due to seismic motion. The primary concept of a base isolation system is the extension of the natural period of a building. However, the production of isolators is very expensive, particularly when an isolator is employed as a residential house’s base isolator. To alleviate the issue, a low-cost rubber base isolation system is proposed. The proposed low-cost bearing system uses the perforated thin steel plates instead of solid thick ones. The study is the initial step of research on low-cost base isolation systems for residential houses in highly seismic regions. A nonlinear time history analysis (NLTHA) that is based on seven scaled-earthquake records is implemented in one-and two-storey isolated reinforced concrete (RC) residential houses by considering the influence of the isolation ratio. The results indicate that the houses with isolation systems achieved better performance with regard to ductility demand and natural period due to seismic loads. The house with the higher isolation ratio achieved lower ductility demand.