A new seismic isolation system: sleeved-pile with soil-rubber mixture

To increase the safety of structures against strong ground motions and their life due to environmental issues on the earth and saving in terms of materials, it is necessary to expand and upgrade seismic resistant systems. However, more cost-effective systems which have sufficient influence on the seismic performance of structures and also more compatibility with the regional conditions, will be more desirable than other systems. One of the seismic resistance systems is seismic isolation. In the event of interest in using the seismic isolation system for a mounted building on piles, the costly construction of piles and isolation equipment shall be provided simultaneously. The seismic isolating using sleeved-piles which is generally used in combination with various damper systems, can help to overcome this issue. In this research a seismic isolator system using sleeved-pile has been studied while considering the damping behavior of the soil-rubber mixture as the only source of damping. To investigate the proposed system, a series of tests including static lateral load test, dynamic free and forced vibration tests, were performed on a model pile in a field laboratory which has been constructed for this purpose. According to results of tests the proposed system has a good deformation ability and damping characteristics, and as a method of seismic isolation is completely efficient.