Seismic Protection with Different Isolation Materials

The concept of seismic isolation is that the structure is protected from seismic forces by which the energy is dissipated away at the base of the structure itself. Different types of locally available materials, for instance, sand, sawdust, talk, wood, coir and other materials are widely in use for the application of seismic isolation since ancient days. Interestingly, these materials are reusable and acquired with less cost and effort. The significant advantage of seismic isolation is that precious lives and property worth millions of dollars are saved. In the present study, different structures/facilities isolated for seismic forces adopting cost-effective materials, such as waste tires and other materials are presented. The historical perspective of the seismic isolation technique is to be studied widely to understand the type of materials used, benefits, drawbacks, cost in modern seismic isolation and for the comparison with the materials adopted by older civilizations. The number of seismically isolated structures worldwide is to be recognized and studied to understand the behaviour of structures with various damping elements during multiple earthquakes with the implementation of different damping elements. For instance, the statistical increase in the number of isolated buildings over years is reviewed to identify if the concept of seismic isolation is adopted enormously or not. Subsequently, the utilization of seismic codes and specifically, seismic isolation codes is to be deliberately viewed for its implementation for the design and application of the seismic isolation elements in the structure.