To propose an initial formulation for the passive control section of the Turkish Earthquake Code, the impact of base isolation and viscoelastic dampers on a four-storey reinforced concrete (RC) frame building was considered under various one-dimensional quake excitations. Both statically equivalent seismic load methods (comparing Turkish Earthquake code with Uniform Building Code) and linear time history analyses were applied to the RC building based on a portion of the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake ground motion record (modified to possess predominant spectral periods of T1 = 0.13 sec and T2 = 1.43 sec representing hard and soft soil conditions, resp.). Effective peak ground acceleration was set to 0.40 g. Time history variations of upper column dis-placements and bending moments were compared, as well as storey drift ratios. Reductions of the fixed-base case column bending moments were obtained of up to 73% under base isolation, up to 25% with viscoelastic dampers, and up to 83% (with a unified response reduction factor) when both devices were both present.
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