Study on Vibration Mitigation of Connected Cabinets Storing Electronics Subjected to Seismic Input Using Elasto-Plastic Damper

This paper deals with the motion of coupled cabinets containing electronics subjected to seismic input. In power plants, chemical plants, etc., several rectangular cabinets containing important electronics are always lined up in the control center. These electronics are necessary for the control of the entire plant; thus, when they are damaged, the entire plant cannot be controlled, and a serious accident may occur. These cabinets are frequently put directly on the floor. Thus, it is perceived that in the worst case, cabinets may turn over by rocking motion during earthquakes and electronics may break. Moreover, even when the cabinets do not overturn, there is a concern about a large acceleration applied to the internal electronics due to the seismic waves. Hence, the need to develop methods that can reduce rocking motion and prevent electronics damage simultaneously. First, we consider the single cabinet with electronics. The cabinet is modeled as a rotating rigid body around its corner. The internal electronics are modeled as a rigid body moving in the translational direction in the cabinet. This system is referred to as single system. We input a seismic wave to the single system and investigate the rocking angle of the cabinet and the acceleration of the electronics in the cabinet. Consequently, we consider the adjacent cabinets connected by an elasto-plastic damper containing electronics. The cabinets are modeled as rotating rigid bodies. The internal electronics are modeled as rigid bodies moving in the translational direction in the cabinets. The whole system is known as a connected system. The elasto-plastic damper has bilinear hysteretic characteristics and can absorb the energy of earthquake inputs. We input the same seismic wave to the connected system to obtain the rocking angle of cabinets and the acceleration of electronics in the connected system. In these simulations, it is assumed that cabinets do not collide with each other. Then, we investigate the effect of the parameters of the elasto-plastic damper suppressing the rocking angle of the cabinets and the acceleration of electronics. Finally, we compare the maximum rocking angle and the maximum acceleration of the single system with that of the connected system and consider an ideal method to reduce the rocking angle and the acceleration simultaneously.