• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.215-222
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• 2020

In this paper, slit steel rubber bearing is presented as an innovative seismic isolator device. In this type of isolator, slit steel damper is an energy dissipation device. Its advantages in comparison with that of the lead rubber bearing are its simplicity in manufacturing process and replacement of its yielding parts. Also, slit steel rubber bearing has the same ability to dissipate energy with smaller value of displacement. Using finite element method in ABAQUS software, a parametric study is done on the performance of this bearing. Three different kinds of isolator with three different values of strut width, 9, 12 and 15 mm, three values of thickness, 4, 6 and 8 mm and two steel types with different yield stress are assessed. Effects of these parameters on the performance characteristics of slit steel rubber bearing are studied. It is shown that by decreasing the thickness and strut width and by selecting the material with lower yield stress, values of effective stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and lateral force in the isolator reduce but equivalent viscous damping is not affected significantly. Thus, by choosing appropriate values for thickness, strut width and slit steel damper yield stress, an isolator with the desired behavior can be achieved. Finally, the performance of an 8-storey frame with the proposed isolator is compared with the same frame equipped with LRB. Results show that SSRB is successful in base shear reduction of structure in a different way from LRB.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.361-374
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• 2016

The material property of the rubber has been studied in order to improve the reliability of the finite element model of a lead rubber bearing (LRB) which is a typical base isolator. Rubber exhibits elastic behaviour even within the large strain range, unlike the general structural material, and has a hyper-elastic characteristics that shows non-linear relationship between load and deformation. This study represents the mechanical characteristics of the rubber by strain energy function in order to develop a finite element (FE) model of LRB. For the study, several strain energy functions were selected and mechanical properties of the rubber were estimated with the energy functions. A finite element model of LRB has been developed by using material properties of rubber and lead which were identified by stress tests. This study estimated the horizontal and vertical force-displacement relationship with the FE model. The adequacy of the FE model was validated by comparing the analytical results with the experimental data.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.23-48
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• 2013

In this study, the effect of flexibility of superstructures and nonlinear characteristics of LRB (Lead Rubber Bearing) isolator on inelastic response of base isolated structures is investigated. To demonstrate the intensity of damage in superstructures, demand response modification factor without the consideration of damping reduction factor, demand RI, is used and the N2 method is applied to compute this factor. To evaluate the influence of superstructure flexibility on inelastic response of base isolated structures, different steel intermediate moment resisting frames with different heights have been investigated. In lead rubber bearing, the rubber provides flexibility and the lead is the source of damping; variations of aforementioned characteristics are also investigated on inelastic response of superstructures. It is observed that an increase in height of superstructure leads to higher value of demand RI till 4-story frame but afterward this factor remains constant; in other words, an increase in height until 4-story frame causes more damage in the superstructure but after that superstructure's damage is equal to the 4-story frame's. The results demonstrate that the low value of second stiffness (rubber stiffness in LRBs) tends to show a significant decrease in demand RI. Increase in value of characteristic strength (yield strength of the lead in LRBs) leads to decrease in the demand RI.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.1A
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• pp.155-162
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• 2006

This study presents the seismic risk assesment for an extradosed bridge with seismic isolators of lead rubber bearings(LRB). First, the seismic vulnerability of a structure and then the seismic hazard of the site are evaluated using earthquake data set and seismic hazard map in Korea, and then the seismic risk of the structure is assessed. The nonlinear seismic analyses are carried out to consider plastic hinges of bridge columns and nonlinear characteristics of soil foundation. The ductility demand is adopted to describe the nonlinear behavior of a column, and the moment-curvature curve of a column is assumed to be bilinear hysterestic. The fragility curves are represented as a log-normal distribution function for column damage, movement of superstructure, and cable yielding. And seismic hazard is estimated using the available seismic hazard maps. The results show that the effectiveness of the seismic isolators for the columns is more noticeable than those for cables and girders, in seismic isolated extradosed bridges under earthquakes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.353-363
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• 2017

The present study considers a multi-span continuous bridge, isolated by lead rubber bearing (LRB). Dynamic soilstructure interaction (SSI) is modelled with the help of a simplified, sway-rocking model for different types of soil. It is well understood from the literature that SSI influences the structural responses and the isolator performance. However, the abovementioned effect of SSI also depends on the earthquake ground motion properties. It is very important to understand how the interaction between soil and structure varies with the earthquake ground motion characteristics but, as far as the knowledge of the authors go, no study has been carried out to investigate this effect. Therefore, the objectives of the present study are to investigate the influence of earthquake ground motion characteristics on: (a) the responses of a multi span bridge (isolated and non-isolated), (b) the performance of the isolator and, most importantly, (c) the soil-structure interaction. Statistical analyses are conducted by considering 14 earthquakes which are selected in such a way that they can be categorized into three frequency content groups according to their peak ground acceleration to peak ground velocity (PGA/PGV) ratio. Lumped mass model of the bridge is developed and time history analyses are carried out by solving the governing equations of motion in the state space form. The performance of the isolator is studied by comparing the responses of the bridge with those of the corresponding uncontrolled bridge (i.e., non-isolated bridge). On studying the effect of earthquake motions, it is observed that the earthquake ground motion characteristics affect the interaction between soil and structure in such a way that the responses decrease with increase in frequency content of the earthquake for all the types of soil considered. The reverse phenomenon is observed in case of the isolator performance where the control efficiencies increase with frequency content of earthquake.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.689-707
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• 2008

This study presents a method to evaluate the seismic risk of an extradosed bridge with seismic isolators of lead rubber bearings (LRBs), and also to show the effectiveness of the LRB isolators on the extradosed bridge, which is one of the relatively flexible and lightly damped structures in terms of seismic risk. Initially, the seismic vulnerability of a structure is evaluated, and then the seismic hazard of a specific site is rated using an earthquake data set and seismic hazard maps in Korea. Then, the seismic risk of the structure is assessed. The nonlinear seismic analyses are carried out to consider plastic deformation of bridge columns and the nonlinear characteristics of soil foundation. To describe the nonlinear behaviour of a column, the ductility demand is adopted, and the moment-curvature relation of a column is assumed to be bilinear hysteretic. The fragility curves are represented as a log-normal distribution function for column damage, movement of superstructure, and cable yielding. And the seismic hazard at a specific site is estimated using the available seismic hazard maps. The results show that in seismically-isolated extradosed bridges under earthquakes, the effectiveness of the isolators is much more noticeable in the columns than the cables and girders.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.161-171
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• 2015

A series of tests was conducted for full-scale single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridges using a system of multiple shaking tables. The 2-span bridge length was 28 m, and the pylon height was 10.2 m. 4 different base conditions were considered: the fixed condition, RB (rubber bearings), LRB (lead rubber bearings), and HDRB (high damping rubber bearings). Based on investigation of the seismic response, the accelerations and displacements in the axial direction of the isolated bridge were increased compared to non-isolated case. However, the strain of the pylon was decreased, because the major mode of the structure was changed to translation for the axial direction due to the dynamic mass. The response of the cable bridge could differ from the desired response according to the locations and characteristics of the seismic isolator. Therefore, caution is required in the design and prediction in regard to the location and behavior of the seismic isolator.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 1993

Base isolation systems are economic and efficient for the control of structural vibration. In this study, the base isolators of LRB(laminated rubber bearing) type which have been generally used are fabricated and tested. From the static and dynamic tests, the characteristics of the base isolators, considering strain-hardening, hysteretic damping and horizontal stiffnesses, etc., are verified and particularly the feasibility as base isolation devices is discussed. Consequently, the test results are compared with the analytical ones that are derived from idealization as a bilinear model.