Partially bonded fiber reinforced elastomeric bearings: Feasibility, effectiveness, aging effects, and low temperature response

• Published in: Engineering structures 2019-01, Vol.179, p.120-128
• Main Authors: Toopchi-Nezhad, H., Ghotb, M.R., Al-Anany, Y.M., Tait, M.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accelerated aging; Accelerated tests; Aging; Bearings; Bonding; Damping; Deformation; Elastomers; Feasibility studies; Fiber reinforced elastomeric bearing; Fiber reinforced materials; Low temperature; Rollover; Seismic isolation; Temperature effects; Unbonded and partially bonded application
• ISSN: 0141-0296; 1873-7323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.10.043

•Partially bonded (PB)-FREBs can retain the same advantages of unbonded-FREBs.•No relative slip occurs under low-rate lateral displacements in a PB-bearing.•The influence of static rotations on the hysteresis loops of PB-FREBs has been investigated.•A new copolymer employed in the bearings, and its response was examined experimentally.•The PB-application of FREBs as seismic isolators/bridge bearings is feasible. There are two classical types of application for fiber reinforced elastomeric bearings (FREB), namely, “bonded (B)” and “unbonded (UB)” applications. Although the UB-application results in improved seismic isolation efficiency due to rollover deformations, UB-FREB are not capable of transferring tensile forces, and may experience slip under certain loading conditions. As such, a new application type called Partially Bonded (PB) has been introduced to overcome these two limitations. A PB-FREB is achieved by partially bonding the top and bottom surfaces of the bearing to its contact supports. This paper presents the results of a comparative experimental study between UB-FREB and PB-FREB. Heat accelerated deterioration tests based on Arrhenius law was also conducted on the PB-FREB. Additionally, the low-temperature horizontal response of the PB-FREB was investigated. Results show that the displacement characteristics and damping values, long-term performance, and low-temperature response of the PB-FREB investigated in this study comply with current standard requirements.