The Earthquake Barrier

by Marc S. Caspe, M. M. Dillon Ltd, Toronto, Ont, Canada,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Dynamic Response of Structures

Abstract:

The earthquake barrier protects buildings from the horizontal ground vibrations of an earthquake by installing a 'force barrier and an energy barrier' at the underside of the building. The earthquake barrier gives the structural engineer control over the forces of nature. To accomplish this, low friction teflon slide plates are first inserted under each column and wall to destroy the grip that the foundation of a conventional building has on the superstructure. Having destroyed the shear transfer at the foundation, it can then be replaced by inserting high-friction prestressed slide plates that firmly tie the building back to its foundation. The earthquake barrier system is a combination of these two simple and reliable devices.

Subject Headings: Landslides | Earthquakes | Base isolation | Sliding effects | Plates | Structural reliability | Earthquake resistant structures

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