Assessment of the Applicability of Recycled Rubber Fiber Reinforced Bearings (RR-FRBs) as Base Isolators of Residential Buildings in Developing Countries

Base isolation has proved to be among the most effective technologies for earthquake hazard mitigation. Nevertheless, due to its implementation costs, the adoption of this earthquake protection strategy is generally limited to large and expensive infrastructures including chip factories, nuclear power plants, hospitals, and emergency response centers. The research described in this work, aims to verify the applicability of low-cost base isolation devices to residential buildings in developing regions of the world. This study focuses on recycled rubber-fiber reinforced bearings (RR-FRBs). These devices can be produced using simple to implement manufacturing procedures at a fraction of the cost of conventional isolators. The design of RR-FRBs for a benchmark building located near the city of Pelabuhan Ratu in Southwest Java, Indonesia, is discussed in this work. This is based on closed form solutions that were developed in early stages of the research program. Finite element analyses have then been adopted to verify the results obtained using the theoretical findings available in literature and to determine the lateral response of the devices under cyclic loads. Nonlinear response history analyses (RHAs) have been performed to assess the seismic response of the benchmark building when isolated at the base with the low-cost devices. Different hazard levels have been considered for the analyses. Results of the analyses confirm the advantages of adopting RR-FRBs as base isolators of ordinary buildings. It is hoped that this work will contribute towards the real implementation of the technology and its application to residential buildings in developing regions of the world.