Strengthening with insulators is an excellent way to protect the building from earthquake damage, as this method is used to reduce the destructive effect of earthquakes. Earthquake is one of the factors that causes the destruction of urban structures and buildings. Therefore, in order to prevent these damages, structures must be reinforced and strengthened so that they can withstand earthquakes. One suitable way to increase resistance is to use seismic isolators.
Who use these insulators to seat or even support the building, which has a positive effect of not damaging the structures. There are different types of seismic isolators, which differ from each other, but they are all basically the same. The installation location of insulators is very important in the design, it should be almost close to the foundation of the building, but there are also examples of insulators being installed on top of the column and under heavy surfaces to reduce the forces entering the column.
Insulators can be near the foundation of the building, but there are some other insulators that are placed on top of the column or under very heavy roofs to reduce the force applied to the column. Columns and building components must be installed on top of the insulator so that the insulator can protect them well from earthquakes
What is seismic isolator?
Seismic isolators are a type of technology that can be used in buildings to reduce the impact of an earthquake on that building and prevent damage to it. There are two types of seismic isolators, elastic isolators and snap isolators, each with a different function.
Seismic isolators are usually a single layer that provides relatively little rigidity between the foundation and the structure. With the formation of this layer, the period of construction increases and the period of the structure increases compared to its previous state, causing the building and structure to lose their sensitivity to vibration and earthquake of the building and reduce the structure. so far.
Is it possible to strengthen it using insulators? One of the things that is used to strengthen the building against many earthquakes is strengthening with insulators. In this method, the structure is placed on supports that can change the profile. Installing insulators in the reinforcement prevents the force of the earthquake from entering the structure and the force of the earthquake at the level of the insulator.
Seismic isolators include all dimensions of the building and the isolator cannot be used in only one part of the structure because it causes differences in parts of the building. Seismic isolators are divided into two categories: rubber isolators and friction isolators, each of which has its own characteristics.
The rubber insulation method helps to increase the natural periodicity of the structure, as the insulators must bear the weight of the structure.
How to strengthen the building with insulation?
Reinforcement is used by seismic isolator to control the earthquake vibrations of the building, which has high absorption and has high elasticity in the horizontal direction. Separation is such that they are elements whose lateral stiffness is much less than their axial stiffness. Therefore, when an earthquake occurs, these elements prevent the transmission of force to the structures, and the performance of these isolators is approximately only desirable within a certain range of height and mass of the structure. So this method is very limited and is used for buildings that have a specific height and weight.
One of the most important factors that lead to strengthening is the errors that occur during design or implementation. If in any case an error occurs in the design and implementation of the structure, by strengthening the building, you can create a better condition for this building and structure. One of the factors that make it stronger is the change in use.
To perform the strengthening, it is best to refer to the building strengthening company, which has experts and engineers who supervise the strengthening operations, and who can implement the strengthening steps for your building well. Strengthening a building against earthquakes depends on the type of building. If the building has a steel and concrete structure, there are different ways to strengthen it.
Reinforcement with seismic isolators
Advantages of using insulator devices
- Can be used in all types of structures
- Reduce structural and non-structural damage to zero
- Reduce the earthquake force on the structure to a great extent
- Reducing the volume of building materials
conclusion
It can be said that strengthening using insulators is one of the best ways to protect a building from earthquakes. Seismic isolation is a modern technology used in almost all countries to prevent possible seismic damage. By placing the building and structure on these insulators, horizontal movements of the ground to the building can be prevented. This method reduces floor acceleration and displacement between floors and protects the building from earthquakes. To use this method, you should go to a building strengthening company so that they can help you with their knowledge and skills