Development and theoretically evaluation of an STF–SF isolator for seismic protection of structures

This study deals with the mechanical behavior of a shear thickening fluid–sliding friction (STF–SF) isolator, and investigates the feasibility of its application in anti-seismic engineering from a theoretical perspective. The STF–SF isolator is composed of a conventional sliding friction (SF) material and a smart shear thickening fluid (STF) material. When the excitation energy is small, the SF material keeps the structure static or only has a small vibration. However, when the excitation energy is large, the STF material results a huge damping force and dissipation of the external energy, eventually reducing the relative motion between the base and the upper structure. To better understand this phenomenon, a mechanistic study of the STF–SF isolator is proceeded by an analytical model which is derived from flow momentum equations. After that, the seismic protective effect of the STF–SF isolator is evaluated at harmonic excitation with different accelerations through a single degree of freedom (SDOF) structure. Furthermore, the effects of layer gap, layer number and friction coefficient of the STF–SF isolator on the seismic protective effect are investigated. The results show that the STF–SF isolator can significantly decrease both the displacement response and the acceleration response of the SDOF structure. This theoretical study indicates the STF–SF isolator can be used in anti-seismic engineering.