• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.402-406
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• 2000

Strain energy function of the isoprene rubber was accurately determined by the experiments of uniaxial tension, planar tension, biaxial tension and volumetric compression. Deformation behavior of alternatively laminated structure of elastomer and reinforced aluminium layers, was analysed by Finite Element method. As a result, Ogden strain energy function obtained from the experiments describes the hyperelastic characteristics of the rubber very well. The compressibility of the rubber reduces axial stiffness of the structure. The axial stiffness of alternatively laminated structure being larger than shear stiffness. Which enables the structure to be shear-deformed easily.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 1998

Experimental work undertaken to investigate the behaviour of lead-rubber bearings under compression and a combination of compression and shear or rotation has been reported on elsewhere. However, it is difficult to determine the state of stress within the bearings in terms of the applied forces and the interaction between the lead plug and the steel shims and elastomeric layers. In order to supply some of the missing information about the stress-strain state within the bearings, an analytical study using the finite element method was carried out. The available experimental results were used to validate the model and although agreement was not as good as expected (on account of difficulties in modelling the lead plug), the analyses did provide some information about the state of the stress within the bearing.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.315-340
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• 2012

There are many types of seismic isolation devices that are being used today for structural control of earthquake response in buildings. The most commonly used are sliding bearings and elastomeric bearings, the latter with or without lead core. An alternative solution is the use of steel springs combined with viscoelastic fluid dampers, which is the case discussed in this paper. An analytical study of a three-story building supported on helical steel springs and viscoelastic fluid dampers, GERB Control System (GCS), subjected to near-fault earthquakes is presented. Several earthquakes records have been obtained by the acceleration network installed in the isolated building and in its non-isolated twin since they were finished. These experimental results are analysed and discussed. The aim is to show that the spring-based system can be an alternative for base isolation of small building located near active faults.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 1994

Linear composite theory as well as a finite element program is developed for axisymmetric elastomeric bearings. This study is limited to axisymmetrically loaded horizontal layered systems with linear, elastic, small' deformation conditions. A multiscale method is used in the development of the composite theory which enables us to model inhomogeneous layered composites as equivalent homogeneous, orthotropic material. Only continuity of the prime variables is required for the finite element analysis, allowing the use of simple $C_o$ elements whereas rather complicated theories presented in the past need more requirements. Four node isoparametric elements are used in the study. The developed theory of this paper is limited to linear conditions, however, the analysis can be extended to nonlinear behavior of flexible material in elastomeric bearing by using multiscale method presented here. Two numerical examples are examined and compared to the results of discrete and previously obtained composite analysis to verify the theory.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.615-634
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• 2006

Seismic response of the liquid storage tanks isolated by the elastomeric bearings and sliding systems is investigated under near-fault earthquake motions. The fault normal and parallel components of near-fault motion are applied in two horizontal directions of the tank. The continuous liquid mass of the tank is modeled as lumped masses known as sloshing mass, impulsive mass and rigid mass. The corresponding stiffness associated with these lumped masses has been worked out depending upon the properties of the tank wall and liquid mass. It is observed that the resultant response of the isolated tank is mainly governed by fault normal component with minor contribution from the fault parallel component. Further, a parametric study is also carried out to study the effects of important system parameters on the effectiveness of seismic isolation for liquid storage tanks. The various important parameters considered are: aspect ratio of tank, the period of isolation and the damping of isolation bearings. There exists an optimum value of isolation damping for which the base shear in the tank attains the minimum value under near-fault motion. The increase of damping beyond the optimum value will reduce the bearing and sloshing displacements but increases the base shear. A comparative performance of five isolation systems for liquid storage tanks is also studied under normal component of near-fault motion and found that the EDF type isolation system may be a better choice for design of isolated tank in near-fault locations. Finally, it is also observed that the satisfactory response can be obtained by analysing the base-isolated tanks under simple cycloidal pulse instead of complete acceleration history.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.185-196
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• 2019

One of the shortcomings of seismic bridge design codes is the lack of clarity in defining the role of different seismic isolation systems with linear or nonlinear behavior in terms of R-factor. For example, based on AASHTO guide specifications for seismic isolation design, R-factor for all substructure elements of isolated bridges should be half of those expressed in the AASHTO standard specifications for highway bridges (i.e., R=3 for single columns and R=5 for multiple column bent) but not less than 1.50. However, no distinction is made between two commonly used types of seismic isolation devices, i.e., elastomeric rubber bearing (ERB) with linear behavior, and lead rubber bearing (LRB) with nonlinear behavior. In this paper, five existing bridges located in Iran with two types of deck-pier connection including ERB and LRB isolators, and two bridge models with monolithic deck-pier connection are developed and their R-factor values are assessed based on the Uang's method. The average R-factors for the bridges with ERB isolators are calculated as 3.89 and 4.91 in the longitudinal and transverse directions, respectively, which are not in consonance with the AASHTO guide specifications for seismic isolation design (i.e., R=3/2=1.5 for the longitudinal direction and R=5/2=2.5 for the transverse direction). This is a clear indicator that the code-prescribed R-factors are conservative for typical bridges with ERB isolators. Also for the bridges with LRB isolators, the average computed R-factors equal 1.652 and 2.232 in the longitudinal and transverse directions, respectively, which are in a good agreement with the code-specified R-factor values. Moreover, in the bridges with monolithic deck-pier connection, the average R-factor in the longitudinal direction is obtained as 2.92 which is close to the specified R-factor in the bridge design codes (i.e., 3), and in the transverse direction is obtained as 2.41 which is about half of the corresponding R-factor value in the specifications (i.e., 5).

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.311-318
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• 2020

This study introduces a technique for improving the elastomeric-isolator performance using modular devices. The modular devices are shear resistance block, polymer spring, displacement acceptance guide, and anti-falling block. They are installed on the elastomeric isolator as a supplementary device. Each modularized device improves the isolator performance by performing step-by-step actions according to the seismic intensity and displacement. The PRB isolation device works in four stages, depending on the seismic magnitude, to satisfy the target performance. It is designed to accommodate design displacement in the first stage and large magnitude of earthquakes in the second and third stages. This design prevents superstructures from falling in the fourth stage due to large-magnitude earthquakes by increasing the capacity limit of the elastomeric isolator. In this study, the PRB isolation device is analyzed using finite element analysis to verify that the PRB isolation device works as intended and it can withstand loads corresponding to large-magnitude earthquakes. The performance of the PRB isolation device is validated by the analysis, which is further corroborated by actual experiments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.1 s.68
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• pp.145-153
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• 2004

Conventional lead-rubber bearings may be unstable in case of strong ground motions. To address this problem, this paper proposed a new concept of isolation device wherein shape memory alloy wires were incorporated in an elastomeric bearing. A three-span continuous steel bridge was used for seismic analyses to compare the performance of lead-rubber and proposed bearings. The proposed bearings showed almost the same performance as the lead-rubber bearings. In particular, the proposed bearings limited relative displacement effectively with strong ground motions and recovered its original undeformed shape.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.761-783
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• 2006

The enlargement of interest in base isolators as an earthquake-proof design strategy has dramatically accelerated experimental studies of elastomeric bearings worldwide. In this paper, a new base isolator concept that is a hybrid system of rubber bearings is proposed. Uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial shaking table tests are also performed to study the seismic behavior of a 0.4-scale three-story isolated steel structure in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan. Experimental results demonstrate that structures with a hybrid system of rubber bearings composed of stirruped rubber bearings and laminated rubber bearings can actually decrease the seismic responses of the superstructure. It has been proved through the shaking table tests that the proposed hybrid system of rubber bearings is a very promising tool to enhance the seismic resistance of structures. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the proposed analytical model in this paper can predict the mechanical behavior of the hybrid system of rubber bearings and seismic responses of the base-isolated structures.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.301-310
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• 2016

There are differences in seismic behavior between non-skewed bridges and skewed bridges due to in-plane rotations caused by pounding between the skewed deck and its abutments during strong earthquake. Many advances have been made in developing design codes and guidelines for dynamic analyses of non-skewed bridges. However, there remain significant uncertainties with regard to the structural response of skewed bridges caused by unusual seismic response characteristics. The purpose of this study is performing non-linear time history analysis of the bridges using abutment-soil interaction model considering pounding between the skewed deck and its abutments, and analyzing global seismic behavior characteristics of the skewed bridges to assess the possibility of unseating. Refined bridge model with abutment back fill, shear key and elastomeric bearing was developed using non-linear spring element. In order to evaluate the amplification of longitudinal and transverse displacement response, non-linear time history analysis was performed for single span bridges. Far-fault and near-fault ground motions were used as input ground motions. According to each parameter, seismic behavior of skewed bridges was evaluated.