Diseño, fabricación y caracterización de un aislador sísmico friccional con deslizador compuesto.

Abstract

In Argentina, a large part of the territory is at seismic risk; however, very few structures are designed with any seismic protection strategy. Studies on regional seismicity have demonstrated the high seismic hazard in the western provinces of Argentina. The design and construction of buildings essential to society, located in these regions, are carried out within the framework of regulations that impose greater seismic demands on these structures. However, this does not guarantee the absence of damage or the immediate occupancy or use of the structure after a major earthquake. Government decisions to protect essential infrastructure do not incentivize the use of new technologies that would reduce and control damage. Furthermore, imported technologies are limited in their use, and decisions to implement them are postponed. Within this context, essential hospital equipment has a significant cost relative to the value of the civil works, and its damage in the event of an earthquake has the same impact as the loss of an essential building. This paper presents the progress made in the design and fabrication of a frictional isolator with a composite slider, intended to protect critical and costly equipment in public or private healthcare buildings. The paper characterizes the isolator under vertical loads and demonstrates its hysteretic cycle under cyclic vertical and horizontal loads. Test results have allowed for the determination of the device's effective stiffness, coefficient of friction, and damping. Despite its artisanal fabrication, the parameters obtained correspond to the classic specifications of a frictional isolator, yielding acceptable results for the demands placed upon it.