Shear building representations of seismically isolated buildings

Seismic isolation, with its capability of reducing floor accelerations and interstory drifts simultaneously, is recognized as an earthquake resistant design method that protects contents of a building along with the building itself. In research studies, superstructures of seismically isolated buildings are commonly modeled as idealized shear buildings. Shear building representation corresponds to an idealized structure where the beams are infinitely stiff in flexure and axially inextensible; columns are axially inextensible; and rigid floors are supported on these columns. Although it is more convenient to model and analyze a shear building, such an idealization may influence the seismic responses of seismically isolated buildings. This study presents a comparison of the seismic performances of seismically isolated buildings with superstructures modeled as shear buildings to those with full three dimensional superstructures. Both linear and nonlinear base isolation systems with different isolation periods and superstructures with different number of stories are considered.