We will find that it is much more comfortable to ride in a car than in a bus. What’s the reason? Because the shock absorber of a car is better than that of a bus. The spring on the car can greatly reduce the friction force between the car and the road during driving. For example, springs are installed on the wheels of electric vehicles and motorcycles. When riding on the uneven roads, the bumps can be reduced.
In view of the frequent occurrence of earthquakes, scientists have begun to study whether it is possible to install a spring or shock absorber under the house to protect the buildings and reduce the damage to life and property caused by the damage of buildings. This idea has been put forward and has been responded to. Scientists have started this academic research. At present, more than 500 buildings in Yunnan have adopted isolation technology and installed “spring feet” – isolation rubber bearings. Some cities and towns in Yunnan have begun to use the new isolation products.
Dongchuan, Yunnan Province, is located in the Xiaojiang earthquake zone. The houses here are generally six or seven stories high. There were no buildings with more than 10 stories before. But now a new building under development is higher than other commercial housing. How can this be done? The reason is that a rubber bearing is installed in front of the building, which can effectively produce the effect of seismic isolation.
In addition to this rubber bearing, the infilled wall, which acts as a partition, has not been connected with the upper part of the column since the isolation rubber bearing. There is a gap of about 20 cm between the top of the filler wall and the beam. In this regard, Arata, an engineer of the Provincial Institute of earthquake engineering, explained that when an earthquake occurs, the lower end of the column will shake with the ground, and the isolation rubber bearing can reduce the horizontal movement caused by the shear wave, thus reducing the transmission of seismic force to the upper part of the building. The reserved gap and gap is to leave moving space for the column part below the isolation rubber bearing to avoid affecting the upper building.