Impact of the equivalent center of mass separating from the sliding surface on the isolation performance of friction pendulum bearings

A new equivalent center of mass model of FPBs(friction pendulum bearings) is introduced, and based on this model, coefficient j of the equivalent center of mass separating from the sliding surface is defined. It is thought in theory that j has a significant impact on the isolation parameter of FPBs, since the equivalent post-yielding stiffness and friction coefficients are not simply determined by sliding radius and sliding friction pairs. The results of numerical simulation analysis using ABAQUS conducted on two groups of FPBs support this viewpoint. For FPBs with the same sliding radius and sliding friction pairs, the FPB modules of structural analysis software such as ETABS could only distinguish the equivalent transformation using j one by one. The seismic response data obtained in a base isolation calculation example of FPBs are very different, which reveals that j’s impact on the isolation effectiveness of FPBs cannot be ignored. The introduction of j will help improve the classical structural theory of FPBs and the weak points of structural analysis software based on this theory, which is important in achieving more accurate analyses in structural design.