Method Of Protecting A Building Or Group Of Buildings From Seismic Waves Using Gelifying Polymers

Abstract

A method for protecting a building or a group of buildings from the horizontal components of the seismic waves, including: forming a trench around all or part of the periphery of the building or group of buildings, or an excavation under the building, and filling the trench or the excavation with at least one pregelled polymer, or of at least one polymer and/or of a mixture of polymerizable monomers that can undergo gelation in the trench.

1 . A method for protecting a building or a group of buildings from the horizontal components of seismic waves, comprising the steps of:
 forming a trench around, or an excavation under, all or part of a periphery of said building or group of buildings,   filling the trench or the excavation with at least one pregelled polymer, or of at least one polymer and/or of a mixture of polymerizable monomers adapted to undergo gelation in the trench.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the trench is formed against foundations of said building or group of buildings. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the trench is formed at a distance from the building or group of buildings. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the gelled or gellable polymer is a superabsorbent polymer. 
     
     
         5 . The method according  claim 1 , characterized in that when the polymer is pregelled, the trench is filled with the partially or fully swollen polymer. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 ,
 characterized in that when the trench or excavation is filled with at least one gellable polymer, said polymer is an uncrosslinked hydrophilic polymer previously dissolved in water, to which a crosslinking agent is added.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that when the trench or excavation is filled with crosslinkable gellable monomers, said monomers are hydrophilic and are previously dissolved in water, and a crosslinking agent and a catalyst are added to the mixture. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the polymers are obtained from monomers selected from the group consisting of:
 a. Anionic monomers selected from the group consisting of monomers possessing a carboxyl function, monomers possessing a sulphonic acid function,   b. Non-ionic monomers selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, acrylamide derivatives, vinylformamide, N-vinylpyridine, N-vinylpyrrolidone, hydroxyalkyl acrylates and methacrylates, (meth)acrylates bearing chains of the alkoxy and ACMO (acryloyl morpholine) type,   c. Cationic monomers selected from the group consisting of diallyldialkyl ammonium salts, dialkylaminoalkyl acrylates and methacrylates, in particular dialkylaminoethyl acrylate (ADAME) and dialkylaminoethyl methacrylate (MADAME), as well as their acidified or quaternized forms.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the crosslinking agents are selected from polyfunctional monomers, aluminium citrate, zirconium lactate, and titanates. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that a bactericide is added to the gel or to the polymer and/or to the crosslinkable monomers. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the trench is excavated at a distance from the building between 1 and 50 m. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the width of the trench is between 20 to 100 cm, and the depth of the trench is between 1 and 10 meters. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the trench is excavated on the entire periphery of the building. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 2 , characterized in that the trenches are made by constructing two walls parallel to the foundations at a distance of 0.2 to 1 metre from the foundations. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the trench is excavated at a distance from the building between 2 and 10 m. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the width of the trench is between 30 and 60 cm, and the depth of the trench is between 3 and 6 meters.