Lifecycle cost–benefit analysis of isolated buildings

Abstract Seismic isolation is effective in reducing seismic demand to buildings and mitigating seismic damage costs. To corroborate this fact quantitatively by taking all possible seismic events that occur during the service period of a building into account, this study investigates probabilistic characteristics of the peak ductility demand of inelastic superstructures with linear/bilinear base isolators subject to hundreds of strong ground motion records, and then assesses the cost-effectiveness of seismic isolation technology from the lifecycle cost–benefit perspective. Based on results from nonlinear dynamic analyses of two-degree-of-freedom systems with the Bouc–Wen hysteretic model, a prediction model for the peak ductility demand of isolated structures is developed and used in lifecycle cost analysis to assess the cost-effectiveness of seismic isolation systems. The analysis results show that seismic isolation reduces vibration in superstructures significantly and can be cost-effective in mitigating seismic risk.