Base isolation: design and optimization criteria

Use of new antiseismic techniques is certainly suitable for buildings of strategic importance and, in general, in the case of very high risk.For ordinary buildings, instead, the cost of base isolation system should be balanced by an equivalent saving in the structure.In this paper the comparison criteria have been first defined, and then a large numerical investigation has been carried out to analyze the effectiveness and the economic suitability of seismic isolation, using elastomeric isolators and sliders, in reinforced concrete buildings.