Spring‐viscous damper systems for combined seismic and vibration isolation

SUMMARY The coupled lateral-vertical-rocking dynamic response of spring-viscous damper isolated structures is considered. The force-displacement relation of the viscous dampers is described by an experimentally calibrated fractional derivative viscoelasticity model. The equations of motion are derived and reduced to a form for direct solution by the discrete Fourier transform method. The validity and accuracy of the derived solution are demonstrated by comparison with shake table test results. The developed analysis procedure is employed in the seismic analysis of a recently constructed isolated structure. The analytical and experimental results demonstrate that spring-viscous damper isolation systems are capable of providing both effective seismic and vibration isolation.