question about earthquake shock absorbers?
hi
i heard in high rise apartments or building, i heard they usualy provide some earthquake shock absorbers….how does it work….why cant they do that in every buildling…so that theere wont be any earthquake disaster especially in areas like california
just curious to know
The main reason they don’t do it on all buildings is simply that it is prohibitivlely expensive in comparison to the cost of the rest of the building if it isn’t a skyscaper. Also, in small buildings like houses, the building might very well rock back and forth in a good stiff wind, and it effectively seperates the building from its own foundation. And ultimately, the system becomes more effective the heavier the building on it is.
There was an episode of the Discovery Channel show Smash Lab that had the team try to earthquake-proof a house. One pair basincally took semi-truck shocks and spings and turned them sideways, which worked well on small quakes but amplified the effect on large ones. The other pair made a smaller version of the system they use in high-rises, which is basically a bunch of bowls that support the building with a ball on a rod coming down from the building into each bowl. The concept is that as the earth moves and the building stays in place, the building can move more gently, and the force of gravity will keep the building from moving out of the bowls. They tried to slow down the movement with rubber, but that just tore up. However, even without the rubber, it worked pretty well.
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