MATHEMATICAL MODELING AND NONLINEAR ANALYSIS OF ADAPTIVE RUBBER BEARINGS

Yien Ji^†, C. S. Tsai*, Ying Zhou, H. C. Su, Xilin Lu

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Summary

In this study, a new type of seismic isolator, composed of rubber materials and sliding plates called adaptive rubber bearings (ARB’s), are proposed. In order to systematically investigate the mechanical behavior of an ARB, mathematical formulations for nonlinear analyses have been derived from the proposed concept of the ARB. Based on the concept of the force equilibrium via the combination of rubber and the sliding core layer by layer, the mathematical formulations presenting the adaptive characteristics of the entire ARB system can be obtained by way of the series of connections of all layers in the entire device. By virtue of the derived mathematical formulations, the phenomena of the ARB isolator possessing adaptive features can be clearly understood even though it is a completely passive device. Numerical analysis which is in good agreement with experimental results infer that the effective stiffness and damping ratio of the ARB isolator change continually during an earthquake and are controllable through appropriate design.

Key Words: Seismic isolator, rubber bearing, adaptive rubber bearing

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