Morehead State University
Benefits of Floor Isolation
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Construction Management/Civil Engineering Technology
Minor
Mathematics
Institution 24-25
Morehead State University
KY House District #
92
KY Senate District #
31
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Tathagata Ray, Ph.D.
Department
Department of Engineering Sciences
Abstract
In the face of earthquakes, occupants of various buildings are at risk of injury or even death, even with the current gold standard, i.e., base isolation for earthquake protection. Base isolation separates the superstructure of a building from its foundation using isolators. This can protect the building from structural damage, but damage to nonstructural components of the building is still unavoidable. This can lead to grave injuries or even death to occupants, especially to occupants of hospitals. In the event of an earthquake, equipment throughout a hospital can roll or slide fast enough to break bones or cause brain damage. Our research aims to investigate a new method of preventing structural and nonstructural damage to buildings. This method is referred to as floor isolation. In addition to placing the isolators only between the foundation and superstructure, they are instead placed between each floor of the building. In a small-scale experiment, we found that accelerations were reduced by an average of 60% in the floor-isolated building compared to the base-isolated building, in addition to an increase in the inherent (aerodynamic) damping of the model. The gap between isolated floors can further be utilized for building augmented wind turbines.
Benefits of Floor Isolation
In the face of earthquakes, occupants of various buildings are at risk of injury or even death, even with the current gold standard, i.e., base isolation for earthquake protection. Base isolation separates the superstructure of a building from its foundation using isolators. This can protect the building from structural damage, but damage to nonstructural components of the building is still unavoidable. This can lead to grave injuries or even death to occupants, especially to occupants of hospitals. In the event of an earthquake, equipment throughout a hospital can roll or slide fast enough to break bones or cause brain damage. Our research aims to investigate a new method of preventing structural and nonstructural damage to buildings. This method is referred to as floor isolation. In addition to placing the isolators only between the foundation and superstructure, they are instead placed between each floor of the building. In a small-scale experiment, we found that accelerations were reduced by an average of 60% in the floor-isolated building compared to the base-isolated building, in addition to an increase in the inherent (aerodynamic) damping of the model. The gap between isolated floors can further be utilized for building augmented wind turbines.