Research on the Characteristics of Jacks Used to Rectify Tilted Buildings

One method of rectifying tilted buildings is by lifting them unevenly using hydraulic jacks. These jacks are loaded both monotonically and cyclically during the rectification process. It has been shown that the change in jack length is the sum of the change in the piston slide out and the change in the jack’s cylinder length, which is supported by a parallelepiped element. Laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the piston slide out and the change in the jack’s cylinder length under both monotonically and cyclically loaded conditions. The results indicated that the piston slide out forms a hysteresis loop. In contrast, the change in the jack’s cylinder length does not exhibit a hysteresis loop and is a non-linear function of the load. A structural model of the jack was proposed, consisting of three components: a linearly elastic component connected in parallel to the component where the frictional force occurs, and a component with non-linear elastic characteristics connected in series with them. Displacements of the linear elastic component, characterized by a constant stiffness, occur as long as the external load exceeds the internal frictional force. The value of the frictional force in this model increases with the load. The stiffness of the non-linear elastic component increases proportionally to the load.