Influence of elastomeric bearings in tension on the seismic performance of base-isolated r.C. buildings

Elastomeric bearings are commonly used in base-isolation systems to protect the structures from earthquake damages. Their design is usually developed by using nonlinear models where only the effects of shear and compressive loads are considered, but uncertainties still remain about consequences of the tensile loads produced by severe earthquakes like the near-fault ones. The present work aims to highlight the relapses of tension on the response of bearings and superstructure. To this end, three-, seven-and ten-storey r.c. framed buildings are designed in line with the current Italian seismic code, with a base-isolation system constituted of High-Damping-Rubber Bearings (HDRBs) designed for three values of the ratio between the vertical and horizontal stiffnesses. Experimental and analytical results available in literature are used to propose a unified nonlinear model of the HDRBs, including cavitation and post-cavitation of the elastomer. Nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses of the test structures are carried out using a homemade computer code, where other models of HDRBs considering only some nonlinear phenomena are implemented. Near-fault earthquakes with comparable horizontal and vertical components, prevailing horizontal component and prevailing vertical component are considered as seismic input. Numerical results highlight that a precautionary estimation of response parameters of the HDRBs is attained referring to the proposed model, while its effects on the nonlinear response of the superstructure are less conservative.