Herein, analytical and experimental investigations are conducted to characterize the performance of a novel variable friction pendulum bearing (VFPB) capable of progressively exhibiting different hysteretic properties for different displacement amplitudes. An analytic scheme comprising existing nonlinear elements is proposed, which can be easily implemented using currently available analysis software. The analytic-scheme accuracy is verified through comparison with experimental data. Thereafter, a design method is developed for seismically isolated buildings employing VFPB. Elastic-plastic time-history analyses are performed to study the seismic performance of the base-isolated building using VFPB, by comparing its performance with that of a friction pendulum bearing (FPB). Both the buildings isolated employing VFPB and FPB exhibit excellent aseismic performance. The VFPB is more effective than FPB in reducing the response of superstructure without increasing isolator displacement for the rare earthquake scenario, especially for very rare earthquake scenario. The stiffness and damping of VFPB change to predictable values at calculable and controllable displacement. Therefore, it can be designed to achieve multiple performance objectives corresponding to different levels of ground shaking.

在此，进行了分析和实验研究，以表征一种新型可变摩擦摆轴承 (VFPB) 的性能，该轴承能够针对不同的位移幅度逐渐表现出不同的滞后特性。提出了一种包含现有非线性元素的分析方案，该方案可以使用当前可用的分析软件轻松实现。通过与实验数据的比较，验证了分析方案的准确性。此后，开发了一种采用 VFPB 的隔震建筑物的设计方法。通过将其性能与摩擦摆轴承 (FPB) 的性能进行比较，进行弹塑性时程分析以研究使用 VFPB 的基础隔震建筑物的抗震性能。采用 VFPB 和 FPB 隔离的建筑物均表现出优异的抗震性能。VFPB 在不增加隔震器位移的情况下，在罕见地震情况下，尤其是在非常罕见的地震情况下，在减少上部结构的响应方面比 FPB 更有效。VFPB 的刚度和阻尼在可计算和可控位移处变为可预测值。因此，它可以设计为实现对应于不同程度的地面震动的多个性能目标。