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SC Solutions is a world leader in the design and analysis of structural protective systems. The synergy of its two divisions—the Systems & Control Division and the Structural Engineering Division—have come together to provide state-of-the-art solutions.
Conventional seismic design of structures permits the reduction of forces below the elastic level on the premise that inelastic action will dissipate significant amounts of energy. As a result, such structures will usually survive a severe earthquake without collapse. Significant damage in critical regions of structural members followed by degradation in hysteretic behavior results in inelastic behavior and therefore dissipation of energy. Under this design philosophy, the design engineer relies upon inherent ductility of a structure to prevent catastrophic failure while accepting a certain level of structural and nonstructural damage. The performance of a structure can be improved if some type of supplemental device is used to absorb a portion of the energy. In order to reduce the hysteretic energy—which causes damage in structural elements—protective systems are ideal ways of increasing viscous energy. In recent years, SC Solutions has undertaken to develop the concept of energy dissipation or supplemental damping into a workable technology. Today, structural protective systems can be divided into three major groups: seismic isolation, passive energy dissipation, and active and semi-active systems. |
