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4. Earthquake Protection Systems

Taylor Devices, Inc. has been the leader in shock and vibration technology since 1955. Now, we have boldly stepped into the forefront of one of civil engineering’s greatest challenges: Seismic protection of buildings, bridges, historical structures, and even residential dwellings. Extensive research has been conducted in a joint effort with the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER), located at the State University of New York at Buffalo. A practical approach has been developed for dissipating energy from a structure by the addition of Taylor Devices’ unique Fluid Viscous Dampers. The most noteworthy features include a maintenance-free design proven by years of usage by the Military, “fail-safe” construction which insures safe operation for the life of the building or bridge, and significantly lower cost than conventional methods. Taylor Devices’ Fluid Viscous Dampers can be incorporated into a newly designed structure or retrofit to existing structures to extend their ability to survive seismic events. The linear output of these devices allows ease in structural analysis using existing software codes. This data book includes answers to the questions most frequently asked about the use of viscous damping in a structure. Application and sizing information is also provided. For more information about a custom designed seismic protection system for your specific application, please do not hesitate to contact us at our factory. Our staff of highly qualified experts is ready to help you.

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30. Experimental and Analytical Study of a System Consisting of Sliding Bearings and Fluid Restoring Force/Damping Devices

This report describes an experimental study of the behavior of a bridge seismic sliding isolation system consisting of flat sliding bearings and fluid restoring force/damping devices. Earthquake simulator tests were performed on a model bridge structure both with isolators and without. The experimental results demonstrate a marked increase of the capacity of the isolated bridge to withstand earthquake forces. Analytical techniques are used to predict the dynamic response of the system and the obtained results are in very good agreement with the experimental results.

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31. Study of Seismic Isolation Systems for Computer Floors

This report describes the development and testing of a computer floor seismic isolation systems which uses existing devices developed for the seismic isolation of buildings and shock isolation of military equipment. A computer floor system with raised floor and a generic slender equipment cabinet was constructed. It was isolated by spherically shaped sliding bearings and was highly damped either by utilizing high friction in the bearings or by installing fluid viscous dampers. The spherically shaped bearings provided the simplest means of achieving long period in the isolation system under low gravity load. The isolation system prevented rocking of the cabinet on top of the isolated floor and substantially reduced its acceleration response in comparison to that of a conventional computer floor. An analytical study was also conducted in order to extend the results to a range of parameters which could not be tested.

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32. Application of Fluid Viscous Dampers to Earthquake Design

This article summarizes the extensive viscous dampers investigation performed by NCEER at State University of New York, Buffalo Campus. This included computer modeling of both the dampers and complete isolated systems, along with shake table testing and correlation of results. The article also describes a very large damper projects; dampers + base isolation for a set of five hospital buildings near San Bernardino, CA.

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34. Fear of Trembling

This article describes the effects of both Kobe earthquake and the Northridge earthquake in detail, including technical and economic details. It also discusses building codes and practices and what is being done around the world to decrease the risk of severe seismic damage.

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