Seismic Isolation of SMA-rubber Bearings in Spatial Lattice Shells

In order to reduce the seismic damages of long span roofs, the seismic isolation bearings are used. A new type of SMA-rubber bearing is designed by incorporating shape memory alloy (SMA) with ordinary laminated rubber pads. A mechanical model of the bearing is set up. Then, the new bearing is applied to lattice shell structures to investigate its seismic isolation performance for spatial structures. Seismic isolation equations for spatial lattice shells are derived. Through analyses on a single-layer cylindrical lattice shell, it is shown that seismic responses of lattice shell structures can be effectively reduced by using SMA-rubber bearings. The study also indicates that the developed SMA-rubber bearing provides superior performance than ordinary rubber bearing.