Vertical Stiffness of Elastomeric and Lead–Rubber Seismic Isolation Bearings
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 9
Abstract
An experimental study investigating the influence of lateral displacement on the vertical stiffness of elastomeric and lead–rubber seismic isolation bearings is summarized. Two identically constructed low-damping rubber and lead–rubber seismic isolation bearings were subjected to a series of tests with varying levels of combined lateral displacement and axial (compressive) loading to study this relationship. The results of these tests showed the vertical stiffness decreases with increasing lateral displacement for each bearing tested. Additionally, the vertical stiffness data are used to evaluate four formulations for the estimation of the vertical stiffness as a function of the lateral displacement. From this comparison, two formulations, one based on the Koh–Kelly two-spring model and the other on a piecewise linear relationship, showed good agreement with the experimental data over the wide range of lateral displacements considered in this study.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research and the Federal Highway Administration through Task D1.5 of Federal Highway Administration Contract DTFH 61-98-C-0094. The writers also wish to thank Dr. Amarnath Kasalanati of DIS Inc. for generously providing the model bearings used in this study. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research or the Federal Highway Administration. No guarantee regarding the results, findings, and recommendations are offered by either the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research or the Federal Highway Administration.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 9 • September 2007
Pages: 1227 - 1236
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 12, 2006
Accepted: Feb 1, 2007
Published online: Sep 1, 2007
Published in print: Sep 2007
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Marvin W. Halling
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