ABSTRACT
Among the many protective strategies against earthquake excitations, Rubber Bearings represent the easiest solution for seismic isolation systems, even though a number of issues have to be considered, especially related to vertical buckling and limitations on the maximum vertical load which can be applied to the single isolator. In this work a fast design procedure is defined specifically for Rubber Bearing isolators, by considering initial assumptions, which can be easily managed by practitioners. With hand computations in few steps, devices can be determined in terms of both geometrical and mechanical properties, able to provide the proper period shift and energy dissipation, in agreement with the assumed performance point, avoiding buckling behavior with respect to the vertical direction. The presented procedure has been applied to a case study structure, which has been numerically analyzed, in order to assess the efficiency of the designed isolation system.
