Experimental and Analytical Studies on the Horizontal Behavior of Elastomeric Bearings under Support Rotation
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 4
Abstract
Laminated elastomeric bearings are used widely as seismic isolation devices. Most previous studies on the horizontal behavior of elastomeric bearings have assumed that the rotations of the top and bottom supports of the bearings are zero, mainly because in conventional practice, the superstructure and substructure above and below the isolation layer have very large rotational stiffness. However, in certain applications, including in bridges, in midstory isolation, and isolation of high-rise buildings, the support surfaces of elastomeric bearings may experience appreciable rotations. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of support rotation on the horizontal behavior of elastomeric bearings. For this purpose, an extensive experimental campaign on a circular isolator was conducted. Two experimental procedures were used. The first procedure investigated the behavior of the bearing under lateral quasi-static cyclic displacement, constant axial load, and constant rotation. The cyclic tests illustrated the effects of rotation on the hysteresis loops. The second procedure investigated the behavior of the bearing through monotonic lateral displacement under constant axial load and rotation. The experimental results were used to validate an advanced finite-element model (FEM) of the bearing. In addition, the experimental results were used to validate a mechanical model (MM) proposed by the authors in a previous study to account for the effect of rotation on the lateral behavior of elastomeric bearings.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
The majority of this work was completed while Professor Konstantinidis was a faculty member at McMaster University. The authors are grateful to undergraduate student assistant Zachary van Galen and laboratory personnel Kent Wheeler and Paul Heerema for their assistance in the experimental tests. Financial support for this work was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 4 • April 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 9, 2019
Accepted: Nov 17, 2020
Published online: Jan 26, 2021
Published in print: Apr 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jun 26, 2021
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