Shake table tests to investigate the effi cacy of geomembranes for soil isolation in a space frame with isolated footing

Abstract

Generally a base isolator shifts the natural period of the building away from that of the predominant period of the most probable earthquakes and provides additional damping to absorb the energy. The present study focuses on the effi cacy of soil, geofi bre reinforced soil and a layer of smooth geosynthetic membrane placed in soil in reducing the seismic response of a structure. Shake table tests are carried out in a tri-axial shaker system on a 1/3rd scaled model of a single storey, single bay RC space frame. A steel tank fi xed to the shake table is used as a container for soil and reinforced soil. The structure with different base conditions is subjected to sine sweep tests and the motion corresponding to the response spectrum of Zone III as per IS 1893(Part1):2002. Analysis of results shows that smooth geomembrane in sand can be effectively used to reduce the seismic response of the structure.