Patents

This innovative base seismic isolation system to reduce inertial forces acting on super-structure during seismic events.  This solution allows to seismically isolate existing structures, thanks to a low-invasive installation procedure. The system can be usefully applied to the foundations of masonry buildings that represent the majority of the existing structures, and particularly those of historical and cultural heritage. The isolating device, as well as its installation methodology, must own several innovative characteristics in order to: i) be diffusively installed below foundation (rather than in keybearing columns, thus constricted to the structural characteristics); ii) be installed without acting on the super-structure; iii) transfer static bearing stresses to the isolation devices. All those aspects result in an innovative isolation system taking advantages of the use of the well-known micropiles – widely used for underpinning existing structures in geotechnical practice – coupled with tiny isolation devices able to be installed between two micropile’s segments, in proximity of the pile cap.