SEISMIC BASE ISOLATION SYSTEM FOR BARREL RACKS

This base isolation system protects barrel racks from earthquake motions through a pad designed to slide on a prepared surface to critically reduce the amount of energy otherwise transferred to a stack of barrels. The pad is comprised of two layers: a plate, usually steel, and an underlayer, usually a high density plastic. The interaction of the underlayer with the prepared surface depends on a coefficient of static and kinetic friction between the underlayer and the surface that prevents relative movement in normal operation and yet allows the isolation pad to move relative to the surface during a seismic event.