Japan, a country known for its frequent and often devastating earthquakes, has seen a groundbreaking innovation that could revolutionize how homes are protected during seismic events. Air Danshin, a Japanese company, has developed a seismic isolation system that airlifts homes off their foundations during earthquakes, offering a new level of safety and peace of mind to residents in earthquake-prone areas.
The technology is the brainchild of inventor Shoichi Sakamoto, who has long been concerned with the safety of buildings during earthquakes. Sakamoto’s innovative approach is simple yet remarkably effective: an airlift system that automatically raises a house off its foundation when an earthquake is detected, isolating it from the ground’s violent movements.
How the Airlift System Works
The system is designed to function in a straightforward manner. At the core of this technology is an expandable, sliding air chamber that separates the house from its foundation. Within 0.5 to 1 second of detecting a quake, air from a storage tank fills the chamber, lifting the entire structure up to 1.18 inches (3 cm) off the ground. The house remains suspended until sensors determine that the shaking has stopped.
To ensure reliability, the system is equipped with emergency batteries that keep it operational even during power outages—a common occurrence during major seismic events. This innovative system has already been installed in nearly 90 locations across Japan, demonstrating its effectiveness and growing popularity.
Air Danshin claims that their system is about a third of the cost of traditional seismic isolation systems, making it an attractive option for homeowners and businesses alike (see one of Sakamoto’s patent applications here). The company has also developed larger versions of the system, suitable for protecting facilities such as factories and laboratories. While there are no current plans to adapt the technology for nuclear power plants, the potential for future applications is significant.
To prove the system’s efficacy, Air Danshin conducted a series of shake tests. One such test involved a full-scale house equipped with furniture, household items, and even a couple of glasses of wine. During the test, the house was subjected to simulated tremors. In front of an audience of engineers and safety experts, the house lifted smoothly off its foundation, and not a single drop of wine was spilled—a testament to the system’s ability to protect not just the structure but also its contents during an earthquake.
ALSO READ: Japan’s Magnetic Levitation Cars Could Transform the Automotive Industry
While the Air Danshin system shows promise, experts like Deke Smith, Executive Director of the Building Seismic Safety Council and the buildingSMART alliance in Washington, DC, have pointed out some potential limitations.
Smith notes that the system’s effectiveness may be limited to smaller earthquakes or those that involve primarily lateral shaking. Larger earthquakes, which often involve more complex and multi-dimensional movements, could still pose challenges. Additionally, the first tremors of an earthquake are often the most destructive, and there is a concern that the airbag might struggle to inflate if the structure is already damaged.
Despite these concerns, Smith acknowledges the importance of testing and improving such technologies. “Going out and building some of them is good,” says Smith. “That’s how we keep improving. It may be an idea that will spur somebody else’s thoughts in some other direction. It may be a viable piece to a larger solution someday.”
