LAUSR

Abstract Herein, analytical and experimental investigations are conducted to characterize the performance of a novel variable friction pendulum bearing (VFPB) capable of progressively exhibiting different hysteretic properties for different displacement amplitudes. An analytic scheme comprising existing nonlinear elements is proposed, which can be easily implemented using currently available analysis software. The analytic-scheme accuracy is verified through comparison with experimental data. Thereafter, a design method is developed for seismically isolated buildings employing VFPB. Elastic-plastic time-history analyses are performed to study the seismic performance of the base-isolated building using VFPB, by comparing its performance with that of a friction pendulum bearing (FPB). Both the buildings isolated employing VFPB and FPB exhibit excellent aseismic performance. The VFPB is more effective than FPB in reducing the response of superstructure without increasing isolator displacement for the rare earthquake scenario, especially for very rare earthquake scenario. The stiffness and damping of VFPB change to predictable values at calculable and controllable displacement. Therefore, it can be designed to achieve multiple performance objectives corresponding to different levels of ground shaking.