Eco-rubber seismic-isolation foundation systems: a cost-effective way to build resilience

Seismic isolation (SI) with energy dissipation has the ability to significantly improve the seismic performance of structures. Historically, SI has been applied to buildings with special functional requirements and bridges. Nevertheless, its application to create new earthquake-resilient residential housing would be of great significance in New Zealand. In this context, this paper proposes an innovative and cost-effective SI methodology, particularly suitable for medium-density low-rise buildings, making use of a dissipative filter made of granulated tyre rubber–gravel mixtures and fibrereinforced rubberised concrete foundation structural elements. While detailed experimental and numerical results are not available yet, in this paper a state-of-the-art literature review demonstrating the feasibility of this technology is presented and the MBIE Smart Idea project “Eco-rubber seismic isolation foundation systems” that aims at developing this technology is introduced.