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We are now developing the rocking structural system that can reduce earthquake responses of building structures by causing rocking vibration on them under appropriate control. This paper examines applicability of this system to building structures based on case studies using four realistic steal planer frame models which have 5 stories and 1 bay. All models have the same height and width, which are 18 m and 6 m respectively. But they have the different first natural period. These values range from 0.384 s to 0.729 s. The case studies are executed using a numerical simulation method. Furthermore, we propose simple prediction method for earthquake responses of the rocking structural systems using the equivalent one mass model. It is concluded that the rocking structural systems can reduce seismic responses of building structures effectively, and these response values can be predicted by the proposed method appropriately.

The shaking table tests are carried out to examine the seismic responses of rocking structural systems with yielding base plates (base plate yielding systems). When subjected to a strong earthquake ground motion, these systems can cause rocking vibration with base plate yielding to reduce the seismic responses of buildings. In the tests, the seismic responses of test frames are compared with those of fixed-base systems and simple rocking systems. The test frames are the steel frames of one-third scale which have one bay and five stories. The total height and width are 5 and 2 meters, respectively. In tests of the base plate yielding systems, the yielding base plates are attached at the bases of these frames. Furthermore, to predict the seismic responses of base plate yielding systems, such as up-lift displacements, base shears and roof displacements, we propose a simple prediction method using an equivalent single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system. It is concluded that the base plate yielding systems can reduce effectively the seismic response of building structures and their seismic responses are predicted by the proposed method appropriately.

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