Abstract
Fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators (FREIs) are a new type of elastomeric base isolation systems. Producing FREIs in the form of long laminated pads and cutting them to the required size significantly reduces the time and cost of the manufacturing process. Due to the lack of adequate information on the performance of FREIs in bonded applications, the goal of this study is to assess the performance sensitivity of 1/4-scale carbon-FREIs based on the experimental tests. The scaled carbon-FREIs are manufactured using a fast cold-vulcanization process. The effect of several factors including the vertical pressure, the lateral cyclic rate, the number of rubber layers, and the thickness of carbon fiber-reinforced layers are explored on the cyclic behavior of rubber bearings. Results show that the effect of vertical pressure on the lateral response of base isolators is negligible. However, decreasing the cyclic loading rate increases the lateral flexibility and the damping capacity. Additionally, carbon fiber-reinforced layers can be considered as a minor source of energy dissipation.
Highlights
Earthquake protective systems, categorized into active, semi-active, passive, and hybrid control mechanisms, are meant to protect structures from the devastating effects of seismic excitations
For each C-Fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators (FREIs), three lateral force-deflection hysteresis curves are presented for three vertical pressures
All carbon fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators (C-FREIs) consisted of laminated pads with identical lengths and widths
Summary
Earthquake protective systems, categorized into active, semi-active, passive, and hybrid control mechanisms, are meant to protect structures (buildings and bridges) from the devastating effects of seismic excitations Among these systems, rubber and sliding bearings as passive devices have been extensively used in structural engineering applications due to their easier operation where there is no need for external power supplies [1]. In contrast to the steel shims with a high flexural rigidity, fiber-reinforced sheets are completely flexible under bending [3]. This characteristic causes the FREI to show a rolling deformation (i.e., rollover deformation) under a lateral shear force. FREIs produce a lower amount of force in the transverse direction compared to steel-reinforced elastomeric isolators (SREIs)
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