Parameters Influencing the Response of a Base-Isolated Building

In order to illustrate the effect of damping on the response of a base-isolated building, a large investigation was undertaken. It consists of a parametric study, which takes into account the progressive variation of the damping ratio (10% to 30%) under different seismic excitations. Using a time history analysis of displacements and accelerations at various levels of the building, the results show that the efficiency of the isolator increases with the assumed damping ratio, provided that the latter is less than or equal to 20%. Beyond this value, the isolator becomes less useful.