The National Applied Research Laboratories yesterday lifted the curtain on a sloped, rolling-type isolation device, saying the customizable technology can protect valuable items against earthquakes.
Able to cap acceleration inflicted by a magnitude 7 earthquake at below 80 galileos, or 8cm per second squared, and to restore items to their original positions after tremors, the device offers protection capacity superior to any existing equipment, project leader Wang Hsiang-jung (汪向榮) said.
The design involves two cylindrical “rollers” that tumble along a space between two sets of equal-sized, V-shaped channels set opposite to each other, Wang said.
On top of the upper channels is a flat surface where users place the items they want to protect, he said. The structure is complete with what is known as a damper, which creates friction to limit the platform’s displacement during quakes.
The damper reduces excessive displacement during earthquakes that can cause items to tip over or slant and allows for space-efficient applications of the sloped, rolling-type isolator, Wang said.
After an earthquake, the device returns items to their original positions as the rollers moving along the bevels slow to a full stop, he said.
The difference in the items’ positions before and after an earthquake has been controlled to within a few millimeters, he added.
This feature significantly aids work that requires great precision, such as semiconductor manufacturing, he said.
The device is also helpful to customers whose work relies on computers, as well as to art galleries and museums, Wang said.
He said that losses experienced by technology firms during major earthquakes, such as the magnitude 7.6, 921 Earthquake in 1999, often amounted to billions of New Taiwan dollars, and relics and artifacts in museums and galleries often cannot be valued in monetary terms.
The sensitivity of the device can be customized to tackle different levels of earthquakes depending upon users’ needs, he said.
During a simulation to showcase the device’s capacity, researchers used a shaking table to recreate the force of the 921 earthquake, during which the steadiness of a bottle of water and a display cabinet holding vases on the device were compared with those placed on the table.
The items on the device remained in their upright positions and appeared unaffected by the vibrations, while those on the table all fell over.
Wang said that so far, clients using the technology include Academia Sinica’s Institute of History and Philology, the Central Weather Bureau and Chunghwa Telecom Co.
The device has proved effective in the field, having gone through numerous earthquakes measuring more than magnitude 6 since 2012, he said.
The isolator has acquired eight patents domestically, in China and in Japan, and has earned the laboratory several million New Taiwan dollars in revenue, he said.
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