Design and modeling of an in-house-built shake table setup for testing prototypes of innovative seismic isolators

This work formulates procedures and methods for the design, assembling, mechanical modeling, and experimental validation of a shake-table setup that has been in-house–built at the Laboratory of Structural Engineering of the University of Salerno. The analyzed shake table permits the experimental characterization of small- and medium-scale prototypes of seismic protection devices as well as the execution of experimental studies on mock-ups of earthquake-proof structures. The main features of this setup are the possibility of applying large lateral displacements histories of various shapes; the application of considerably high vertical loads; and the achievement of high peak velocities of the horizontal motion. Based on such targets, the design strategy presented in this work follows a different path compared with other desktop shake tables available on the market. The latter is most often scaled and built on requirements typical of conventional shake table modes (high accelerations, very low vertical loads, control in acceleration/velocity/displacements, etc.). The paper diffusely presents the approach followed by the development team at the University of Salerno - which may be of interest to research laboratories worldwide wishing to build similar setups - and explores the engineering potential of novel seismic protection devices. An experimental characterization test of a bioinspired seismic isolator that recently appeared in the literature is presented