Soft First Story with Seismic Isolation System

A. Iqbal
Bangladesh Consultants Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2006 NZSEE
Conference

ABSTRACT: A modified form of soft first story is proposed for multi-story structures with seismic
isolation system at the top end of the story. The rest of the structure above and below the isolation
level is designed to remain elastic while the isolation system provides the ductility and energy
dissipation during an earthquake. Study of the behaviour of structures with such arrangements
indicates that the soft first story provides effective protection against seismic forces while maintaining
overall stability. The isolation system for the proposed concept consists of sliding bearings and steel
dampers. It allows for relative displacements between the adjacent elements while reducing the force
transmitted to the upper level. Energy is dissipated through yielding of the steel elements. A number
of systems having different shapes and arrangements are considered here. The practical provisions and
detailing requirements necessary for such arrangements are discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
The concept of soft first story is extended here to incorporate seismic isolation system for separation
between the first story and the rest of the building. The origin and development of the concept is
explored first. Then the addition to the original idea is explained. Details of the proposed arrangements
are explained conceptually. Some implementation issues are also discussed. Conclusions and
Recommendations are drawn finally for application of the concept in buildings.
2 BACKGROUND OF THE CONCEPT
The concept of soft first story was first proposed by Fintel and Khan (Fintel and Khan 1969). Researchers had pointed out some aspects of a flexible first story in the 1930s (Martel 1929, Green 1935,
Jacobsen 1938). But the practical significance was evident from observations of damage to multistory
buildings during earthquakes in the 1960s. Realization of potential economic advantages from the
concept implemented with safety and other necessary practical provisions led to exploration of the
idea in greater detail.
The Olive View Hospital damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake was an example of behavior
of the soft first story (Chopra 1995). The building survived without major damage to the upper stories,
but it could not be repaired because the first story drift was excessive for such a structure without any
special arrangement.
The concept has been studied further since then (Chopra 1973) and it is now well understood and
discussed in texts (Chopra 1995, Naeim 1989, Paulay and Priestley, 1992) that buildings with soft first
stories and without the necessary additional arrangements are not appropriate for earthquake prove
regions. But the practical advantages of having an open first story is often too tempting for architects
and even engineers (Arnold 1984, 1989) and these type of buildings continue to emerge even today
(Figure 1).
Some of the engineers who had to design such an arrangement and who were also conscious of the
consequences had to come up with innovative solutions to the potential problems. Chen and
Constantinou (1988) describe a building of the Science University of Tokyo where the steel columns
are enclosed in hollow concrete casings with gaps between them. There are also dampers at the top of
the casings for additional energy dissipation and stability of the steel columns. The Union House in

Paper Number 36

Auckland (Boardman et al., 1983, Carr 1995), New Zealand is supported on long slender piles passing
through tubes in the basement which is independently supported on the soft harbor mud. Energy
dissipaters located between the columns and the basement using non-sympathetic motions of the piles
and the basement to provide the isolation. The Wellington Central Police Station, completed in 1990,
uses the same concept (Charleson, 1987). The police station has a 10-story tower block above a
separate basement. The tower block was isolated by supporting it on pin-ended piles separated from
the ground by hollow sleeves, with horizontal displacement control in the form of lead extrusion
dampers located at ground level and pinned between the base of the tower block and the basement.
The reinforced concrete superstructure was stiffened by diagonal bracing which enables the building
to move as a rigid body.

Figure 1. Soft first story damage in Loma Prieta earthquake

Chen and Constantinou (1988) proposed a modified soft first story concept. Their arrangement
included Teflon sliders placed at top of some of the first story columns. These columns are tied
together with tie beams and are designed to carry a major portion of the vertical load and the lateral
load determined by the frictional characteristics of the Teflon sliders. The remaining columns, usually
the least loaded columns along the perimeter, are designed for ductile behavior in order to
accommodate large drifts. It is shown that the system provides effective protection to the
superstructure. While the rotational hinge demand required of the ductile columns is large, the stability
of the system is maintained by the columns fitted with Teflon sliders which may be designed to remain
elastic.
Another variation of the soft first story concept is proposed by Todorovska (1999) using inclined
rubber base isolators or inclined soft first story columns. The system behaves as a physical pendulum,
pivoted above centre of mass and is more stable than the standard system. Another advantage of the
inclination is that the inertia forces of the structure due to rotation about the pivot point cancel to some
degree the inertia forces due to the base translation. This should result in smaller relative deformations
of the building and smaller inertial forces.
3 THE PROPOSED CONCEPT
A further extension of the concept is proposed here with sliding bearings and steel dampers placed inbetween the top of the first story and the rest of the superstructure. There has to a load carrying
arrangement to transfer the vertical load and the horizontal earthquake force transferred to the stories
above has to be kept minimum. The arrangement will be stable in normal service condition and for
wind loading. In practice the arrangement may consist of Teflon-stainless steel sliding bearings and
steel dampers assembled in a single device. The sliding bearings primarily carry the vertical load while
the steel dampers provide energy dissipation during earthquakes. The sliding bearings also contribute
in energy dissipation through friction. Many such devices have been used in a large number of bridges
2

in Italy and other countries (Parducci and Mezzi 1991, Medeot 1991). They have also been used in
isolating other types of structures like Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanks, offshore oil platforms and
power plants.
The structural arrangement and philosophy for the proposed concept is basically the same in Fintel and
Khan (1969) and Chen and Constantinou (1988). The central core including the energy dissipation
arrangement will remain elastic during earthquakes. The columns along the periphery may yield in a
predefined manner so that energy is dissipated but the overall stability of the structure is not at risk.
The isolation system behaves in an elastoplastic manner during earthquakes. The biggest advantage of
using steel dampers is that there is very little increase in force after the yield level and the structure
can be designed for that level of force, irrespective of the ground motion. But the disadvantage of such
systems is that they can produce relatively large deformations.
The system must have some kind of fail-safe mechanism to avoid total collapse. In case of an
earthquake that produce displacements greater than the design value, the fail-safe mechanism (in the
form of stop blocks or shear keys) will prevent any possibility of total failure. This would exert
additional forces to the core, but the core has to be designed considering this as a possibility so that it
remains unaffected to maintain stability. There also has to be scope for re-centering of the structure
after the earthquake. Provisions for external adjustments (like jacking) and replacement of the dampers
have to be kept in the structure. The forces from these operations have to be considered while
designing the structural members involved.
Rehabilitation measures also have to be perceived from before regarding the columns that will suffer
damage during an earthquake. The repair must be such that the members will be brought back to
desired performance level after being fully reintegrated into the system. The existing technology offers
solutions like jacking with steel or fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP).
The whole idea can be fitted into the emerging concept of performance-based seismic design (SEAOC
1995, FEMA 1997). The building will suffer no little or damage during minor earthquakes. There can
be some damage to the structure during a major earthquake but the services can be restored after some
repair work (like repair of cracks or refurbishment of some columns). In case of a catastrophic
earthquake enough measure will be there to prevent collapse of the structure and loss of lives but some
major damage might be accepted. Partial or total replacement of the energy dissipation devices might
be necessary, as well as reconstruction of columns and re-alignment of the structure.

Figure 2. Seismic device with crescent moon-shaped energy dissipators

4 DETAILS OF ISOLATION SYSTEMS

A variety of steel yielding devices (e.g. torsion bars, flexural beams, flexural plates etc.) have been
developed and implemented in isolation systems in New Zealand in the 1970s (Skinner et al. 1975).
The shape and mode of loading of all of these devices ensured yielding over the whole length,
essential characteristics of a good energy-absorbing system.

Figure 3. Steel crescent moon-shaped and pin dissipation elements

Researchers in New Zealand also investigated mild steel dampers in the (Tyler 1978 a,b). Tapered
steel energy dissipators were used in an electrical substation in New Zealand (Robinson, 1995).
Elastoplastic Stainless Steel pin dissipating elements have also been used in Centro Direzionale ENEL
(ENEL Headquarters) building in Naples, Italy (Dorka 1994).
Steel energy dissipators have been used in bridges in Italy since early 1970s. They can be E-shaped,
crescent moon-shaped or with pin elements. They are combined with sliding bearings for carrying
vertical loads while the metallic dampers reduce transmission of forces from horizontal movements.
Tsopelas and Constantinou (1996) performed analytical and experimental studies on an E-shaped
isolation system for bridges. E-shaped dampers have also been tested for seismic protection of
buildings (Cimellaro 2003). Development and applications of the Crescent moon-shaped energy
dissipating devices have been described by Marioni (1995).

Figure 4. Hysteresis loop and position of steel crescent moon-shaped elements

5 IMPLEMETATION ISSUES
There would be some columns that would yield to dissipate energy. These members have to be
detailed accordingly. Examples can be found in Fintel and Khan (1969), Chen and Constantinou
(1988) and in other practical applications.
There might be torsion in the superstructure depending on the geometry. In those cases devices omnidirectional in horizontal plane (e.g. crescent moon-shaped or circular-shaped with pins) are better.

The advantage of installing the isolator at the top of the story is that no special provisions for the
services (like flexible connections for movements) have to be made at the ground floor. It may or may
not be necessary to arrange some additional fastening of the columns at the top end.

Figure 5. E-Shaped element and energy dissipation device with those elements

The problems associated with isolating at the ground floor level are:

Spaces have to be kept for the movements

Services (water, gas, sewer) have to be made flexible

The underground water reservoir either normally has to be above the isolation level

Additional attention has to be paid for machines and equipment like generators and electrical substation

Special provision might be necessary for car parks

All or some of these can be eliminated or at least solved more easily isolating at the first story level.
The elevator shaft might have to be made bigger at the ground floor. That will provide more rigidity
and strength at the ground floor, which is necessary. Besides, the core is normally not visible over
more than one story at a time. So the differences in sizes of the core at different floor levels would not
be noticeable.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Concepts for a new version of the soft first story with elastoplastic isolation system have been
proposed here. The concept shows advantages over traditional seismic design principles. The isolation
technology is well-established and proven in real earthquake situations. The necessary practical
arrangements also look adoptable. The whole arrangement promises to be an effective and economic
solution in earthquake protection. Further studies and detailed analysis can give designers the
confidence to implement the idea.
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