• 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.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2022

Concrete-filled steel tubes (CFSTs) are increasingly used as composite sections in structures owing to their excellent load bearing capacity. Therefore, predicting the mechanical behavior of CFST sections under axial compression loading is vital for design purposes. This paper presents the first study on the nonlinear analysis of heated CFSTs with high-strength concrete core containing steel fiber and waste tire rubber under axial compression loading. CFSTs had steel fibers with 0, 1, and 1.5% volume fractions and 0, 5, and 10% rubber particles as sand alternative material. They were subjected to 20, 250, 500, and 750℃ temperatures. Using flow rule and analytical analysis, a model is developed to predict the load bearing capacity of steel tube, and hoop strain-axial strain relationship, and axial stress-volumetric strain relationship of CFSTs. An elastic-plastic analysis method is applied to determine the axial and hoop stresses of the steel tube, considering elastic, yield, and strain hardening stages of steel in its stress-strain curve. The axial stress in the concrete core is determined as the difference between the total experimental axial stress and the axial stress of steel tube obtained from modeling. The results show that steel tube in CFSTs under 750℃ exhibits a higher load bearing contribution compared to those under 20, 250, and 500℃. It is also found that the ratio of load bearing capacity of steel tube at peak point to the load bearing capacity of CFST at peak load is noticeable such that this ratio is in the ranges of 0.21-0.33 and 0.31-0.38 for the CFST specimens with a steel tube thickness of 2 and 3.5 mm, respectively. In addition, after the steel tube yielding, the load bearing capacity of the tube decreases due to the reduction of its axial stiffness and the increase of hoop strain rate, which is in the range of about 20 to 40%.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2002

In order to study the characteristics of fiber reinforced bearing, the steel plates of laminated rubber bearing were replaced with fibers which have same effects of steel plates. The comparison of vertical test and horizontal test of laminated rubber bearing and fiber reinforced bearing shows that the effective damping of fiber reinforced bearing is higher than laminated rubber bearing. This result implies the high energy dissipation ability of fiber reinforced bearing under earthquake excitation. These fiber reinforced bearing can be applied to the low-coast building.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.503-529
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• 2015

Traditionally, multi-story buildings are designed to provide stiffer structural support to withstand lateral earthquake loading. Introducing flexible elements at the base of a structure and providing sufficient damping is an alternative way to mitigate seismic hazards. These features can be achieved with a device known as an isolator. This paper covers the design of base isolators for multi-story buildings in medium-risk seismicity regions and evaluates the structural responses of such isolators. The well-known tower building for police personnel built in Dhaka, Bangladesh by the Public Works Department (PWD) has been used as a case study to justify the viability of incorporating base isolators. The objective of this research was to establish a simplified model of the building that can be effectively used for dynamic analysis, to evaluate the structural status, and to suggest an alternative option to handle the lateral seismic load. A finite element model was incorporated to understand the structural responses. Rubber-steel bearing (RSB) isolators such as Lead rubber bearing (LRB) and high damping rubber bearing (HDRB) were used in the model to insert an isolator link element in the structural base. The nonlinearities of rubber-steel bearings were considered in detail. Linear static, linear dynamic, and nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed for both fixed-based (FB) and base isolated (BI) buildings considering the earthquake accelerograms, histories, and response spectra of the geological sites. Both the time-domain and frequency-domain approaches were used for dynamic solutions. The results indicated that for existing multi-story buildings, RSB diminishes the muscular amount of structural response compared to conventional non-isolated structures. The device also allows for higher horizontal displacement and greater structural flexibility. The suggested isolation technique is able to mitigate the structural hazard under even strong earthquake vulnerability.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.361-384
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• 2011

Earlier studies on hollow-circular rubber bearings, all of which are conducted for steel-reinforced bearings, indicate that the hole presence not only decreases the compression modulus of the bearing but also increases the maximum shear strain developing in the bearing due to compression, both of which are basic design parameters also for fiber-reinforced rubber bearings. This paper presents analytical solutions to the compression problem of hollow-circular fiber-reinforced rubber bearings. The problem is handled using the most-recent formulation of the "pressure method". The analytical solutions are, then, used to investigate the effects of reinforcement flexibility and hole presence on bearing's compression modulus and maximum shear strain in the bearing in view of four key parameters: (i) reinforcement extensibility, (ii) hole size, (iii) bearing's shape factor and (iv) rubber compressibility. It is shown that the compression stiffness of a hollow-circular fiber-reinforced bearing may decrease considerably as reinforcement flexibility and/or hole size increases particularly if the shape factor of the bearing is high and rubber compressibility is not negligible. Numerical studies also show that the existence of even a very small hole can increase the maximum shear strain in the bearing significantly, which has to be considered in the design of such annular bearings.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.603-619
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• 2014

Soft storey buildings are characterised by having a storey that has a large amount of open space. This soft storey creates a major weak point during an earthquake. As the soft stories are typically associated with retail spaces and parking garages, they are often on the lower levels of tall building structures. Thus, when these stories collapse, the entire building can also collapse, causing serious structural damage that may render the structure completely unusable. The use of special soft storey is predominant in the tall building structures constructed by several local developers, making the issue important for local building structures. In this study, the effect of the incorporation of an isolator on the seismic behaviour of tall building structures is examined. The structures are subjected to earthquakes typical of the local city, and the isolator is incorporated with the appropriate isolator time period and damping ratio. A FEM-based computational relationship is proposed to increase the storey height so as to incorporate the isolator with the same time period and damping ratio for both a lead rubber bearing (LRB) and high-damping rubber bearing (HDRB). The study demonstrates that the values of the FEM-based structural design parameters are greatly reduced when the isolator is used. It is more beneficial to incorporate a LRB than a HDRB.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.559-570
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• 2014

In this study, compression and shear characteristics of laminated rubber bearings and lead rubber bearings with various parameters are investigated by using material and geometric nonlinear three-dimensional finite element analysis. Rubber coupon tests are performed to make a model of the laminated rubber bearings. In addition, the material constants of the rubber are calculated by the curve fitting process of stress-strain relationship. The finite element analysis and experimental tests of the laminate rubber bearings are used to verify the validity of the rubber material constants. It is seen that the compression behavior of the laminated rubber bearings and lead rubber bearings mainly varies depending on the first shape factors and their shear behavior significantly varies depending on the second shape factors. In addition, the horizontal stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of lead rubber bearing are increased when the diameter of a lead bar is increased.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.399-412
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• 2011

This study compares the performance of two smart isolation systems that utilize superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) for seismic protection of bridges using energy balance concepts. The first isolation system is a SMA/rubber-based isolation system (SRB-IS) and consists of a laminated rubber bearing that decouples the superstructure from the bridge piers and a SMA device that provides additional energy dissipation and re-centering capacity. The second isolation system, named as superelastic-friction base isolator (S-FBI), combines the superelastic SMAs with a flat steel-Teflon bearing rather than a laminated rubber bearing. Seismic energy equations of a bridge structure with SMA-based isolation systems are established by absolute and relative energy balance formulations. Nonlinear time history analyses are performed in order to assess the effectiveness of the isolation systems and to compare their performance. The program RSPMatch 2005 is employed to generate spectrum compatible ground motions that are used in time history analyses of the isolated bridge. Results indicate that SRB-IS produces higher seismic input energy, recoverable energy and base shears as compared to the S-FBI system. Also, it is shown that combining superelastic SMAs with a sliding bearing rather than rubber bearing significantly reduce the amount of the required SMA material.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.221-230
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• 2004

In this paper, the dynamic response of a multi-story steel moment resisting frame equipped with viscoelastic dampers or lead rubber bearing type isolators subjected to seismic loads is investigated analytically. The objective of this study is to find the best location of viscoelastic dampers by the maximum stress method and maximum story drifts method from structure analysis. Also, a secondary objective of the study is to compare the member force, combined stress, and natural period of the structure retrofitted with viscoelastic dampers or lead rubber bearing type isolators to find effective vibration control method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.17 no.3 s.76
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• pp.307-316
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• 2005

This study analyzed the characteristics of four kinds of bridge rubber pads and suggested a method of determining the stiffness and the damping ratio of the pads.The stiffness of rubber pads can be estimated by a direct static test and a dynamic test indirectly.This study used both methods to determine the pad's stiffness.The damping ratio of pads can be obtained using the dynamic test and the damping ratio of polyurethane rubber pads was estimated to aproximate that of natural and chloroprene rubber pads.The polyurethane rubber pads are harder than natural and chloroprene rubber pads and thus carry larger load bearing capacity.In addition, they showed higher stiffness with the same shape factor than the others and thus are more available for bridge bearings.Although natural and chloroprene rubber pads are elongated to large deformation in the horizontal direction due to vertical loads, polyurethane rubber pads almost do not generate horizontal deformation due to vertical loads regardless of the thickness and hardness of the pads.Therefore, they do not need reinforced plate to restrict horizontal deformation.