The test building was constructed on a large shake table that uses huge hydraulic pistons to simulate an earthquake. It included a typical hospital room and surgery room with associated HVAC, plumbing, fire sprinkler and electrical services.
Not possible! Well it is if we are talking about the new full scale seismic test building at the University of California, San Diego. Mason was the only isolation manufacturer invited to participate in the Seismic Testing of this full scale 5 story building. We provided the vibration isolation, seismic restraints, and flexible connectors for all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems. The test building and contents were subjected to multiple simulated earthquakes, mirroring the 1994 Northridge (Richter 6.7), 2007 Peru (Richter 8.0), 2010 Chile (Richter 8.8) and 2002 Denali (Richter 7.9) earthquakes. The Maximum horizontal Acceleration was 1 G and building motion as much as 3 feet ! We were pleased, but not too surprised, that the ductwork remained in place, the piping was safe and sound, and the equipment fully functional after the test, as we have been active on the West Coast since the early 1960’s and our seismic designs and hardware have survived numerous large quakes without a single failure.
The seismic scientific and engineering communities know our track record and philosophy of always trying to improve designs and safety rather than sell risk at low cost. We very much appreciate their including us in this very important study.
The largest and most visible mechanical equipment on the project was the BAC cooling tower supported on our SLF-ADA combination vibration isolation and seismic restraint.
For more information please go to
these links:
Project webpage on non-structural components:
http://nees.ucsd.edu/projects/2011-five-story/
http://bncs.ucsd.edu/ncss.html
Project overview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8D0jR0EaW8
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=23597
News reports:
http://cse-ece-ucsd.blogspot.com/2012/04/jacobs-schools-in-spotlight.html
Actual test showing building motion:
http://youtu.be/TtA05yxbVqs
Our SLF-ADA isolator incorporates one, 2” deflection, 0.8 horizontal stiffness spring, on either side of a telescopic neoprene cushioned all directional ADA snubber. SLF-ADA isolators have been included in previous shaker table testing for equipment certification and are the basis of design for restrained spring isolator preapproval on several California hospital projects.
For the first time in a dynamic test, fully pressurized piping was attached to the equipment. Mason Safeflex SFDEJ Twin Sphere connectors were used at the piping attachment to provide critical flexibility between the equipment and piping to prevent damage and avoid downtime.
Mason VCSB Vee loops were installed in unbraced 3/4″ diameter copper lines attached to inline coils to prevent coil connection breakage.
Mason VCSB Vee loops were installed in unbraced 3/4″ diameter copper lines attached to inline coils to prevent coil connection breakage.
Factory Mutual (FM) Listed SSBS Seismic Solid Pipe Braces locked the fire sprinkler line to the building. FM Approval requires cyclic loading per their stringent FM-1950 Test procedure, Mason Industries designs, manufactures, and supplies a full line of seismic products for fire sprinklers; including FM Approval Listed seismic brace brackets, ICC-ES listed anchor bolts, and UL-approved flexible connectors.