Abstract
High-damping rubber (HDR) bearings are widely used in girder bridges. To make a full-scale or large-scale test to the whole bridge is still unpractical in laboratory. Sub-structure hybrid simulation techniques could conquer the difficulties brought by the scale issues to some extent. In this study, hybrid simulations techniques are conducted for a simply-supported bridge with HDR bearings. The continuous exchange of the data between the numerical model and the physical specimen is conducted through the software framework, OpenFresco. An experimental bearing element is introduced to present the HDR bearings, while the remainder of the structure is modeled with beam-column elements for numerical analysis. This hybrid simulation results match well the analytical results under the designated earthquake excitation. Therefore, this introduced technique is proven to reproduce the seismic performance of a simply-supported bridge with HDR bearings. In the end, a series of dynamic hybrid simulations of the simply-supported bridge is performed, which provides useful insights into the selection of HDR bearings. The mechanical properties of such HDR bearings under the earthquake excitations are analyzed and discussed.
Highlights
Earthquakes are among the most catastrophic natural hazards
The IM case, NO case, and LO case were analyzed to evaluate the seismic responses of High-damping rubber (HDR) bearings under different excitations
Note that IM stands for the Imperial Valley record input motion (PBA = 1.2 g), NO stands for the North Ridge record input motion (PBA = 1.2 g), and LO stands for the Loma Prieta record input motion (PBA = 1.2 g)
Summary
Earthquakes are among the most catastrophic natural hazards. They have caused tremendous loss of life and damage to infrastructure throughout history. Bridges are essential components of transportation infrastructure, and the damage to or collapse of these structures caused by earthquakes can cause casualties, it can influence important public transportation systems, potentially hindering the life-saving services needed to respond to these disasters. Measures that reduce the seismic responses of bridge structures are of considerable importance. Rubber bearings are standard components of these bridge isolation systems. With the application of HDRbearing isolators, there is a considerable decrease in the seismic responses of bridge structures. The characteristics of these HDR bearing isolators have a substantial influence on the vibration behavior of bridge structures
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