SRI launches rubber seismic damper for compact housing

Kobe, Japan – Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has launched a new residential seismic damper using “high-damping rubber”, designed to address growing demand for compact housing.

Set for release this summer, Miraie S is part of SRI's Miraie series and maintains  the established performance levels compared to its predecessors, said SRI 15 April.

According to the group, revisions to Japan’s Building Standards Act and the increase in compact homes, particularly in urban areas, are driving demand for seismic dampers that can be installed in limited spaces.

The new product maintains “high seismic damping performance” while adopting a slimmer design compared to its predecessor, to improve installation flexibility in wooden houses.

SRI said its Miraie series recorded “zero total or partial collapses” in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.

The new product builds on the same technology, using “high-damping rubber” that converts kinetic energy into thermal energy and maintains energy absorption through repeated stretching and contraction.

A key feature of “Miraie S” is its slimmer structure, achieved by redesigning the placement of the high-damping rubber.

This allows installation alongside load-bearing walls and hold-down hardware, making it easier to use in space-constrained designs.

The unit also employs a “foundation fastening method”, which connects the damper firmly to the base structure to deliver stable seismic damping performance.

In full-scale testing at Kyoto University’s Disaster Prevention Research Institute in April, a building equipped with the product was subjected to repeated shaking equivalent to magnitude 7 earthquakes.

The results, said SRI, showed the structure remained within the defined “safety limit” even after 10 cycles.

“The first results have shown that we are on the right track with this development,” the Japanese group said, adding that the aim was to provide a solution that “meets the high quality standards” required for housing applications.