Experimental Validation of Fast Design Rules for Curved Surface Slider Devices through the Hybrid Simulation Technique

In this work fast design procedures for a get-started definition of the seismic isolation system for buildings have been validated through the analysis of the outcomes of experimental hybrid tests. More specifically, earthquake simulations have been performed, by adopting both numerical and physical substructures, represented by an equivalent Multi Degree of Freedom for the building and a full-scale Double Curved Surface Slider isolator for the whole isolation system. A suite of seven natural seismic events has been selected, by ensuring the proper spectrum compatibility with respect to the hazard of the considered case study structure, in terms of acceleration response spectrum. Special attention has been focused on global results of the isolation layer, in terms of displacement and total force responses, together with the evaluation of the effective protection of the superstructure against eventual plastic deformation demands. The response parameters returned by both the single-events and as average values among the suite of selected events have been compared to the performance initially estimated through fast design rules. Furthermore, Non-Linear Time History Analyses have been performed, by adopting the same analytical model of the building used within the hybrid tests algorithm, for sake of comparison between numerical and experimental simulations.