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ElastomericBearings
INTRODUCTION
Introducednearly60yearsago,LaminatedSteel/ElastomerBearingPadsarenowinservicein
tensofthousandsofbridgesandsimilarstructuresthroughouttheworld.
Thereisgoodreasonforthis.They
supportverticalloadswithminimal
compression,allowexpansionand
contractionofthestructurewith
minimalresistanceandprovidefor
normalendrotationofbridge
beams.Inaddition,theyareeasily
installedandmaintenancefree.All
thisisencompassedinaunit
havingthelowestcostperunitof
supportedloaduptoapprox.350
kips(1500kN).
Moresophisticateddesignscanbeincorporatedintoanintegratedstructuralsystemthat
channelshorizontalloadstostrongpointsandawayfromweakerones.Ultimatelysuch
systemsareusedtomitigatethesevereloadingconditionscausedbyearthquakes.The
Cosmec/DynamicRubberTeamispleasedtoofferLaminatedSteel/ElastomerBearingstosuit
anyownerorStatespecifications.Withourextensivedesignexperiencewecanreadilyprovide
designsforspecialtyapplicationstomeetuniquedesigncriteriaorspecificdesign
requirements.
STANDARDBEARINGS
Awiderangeofloadscanbeaccommodatedbyvaryingtheplanarea,thethicknessofinternal
elastomerlayersandtheelastomerhardness.Planareasshouldbechosenonthebasisof
bearingseatdimensionallimitationsaswellasloads.
Changingtheelastomerhardnessandincreasingtheeffectivethicknessbyaddinglayersare
methodsofvaryingtheresistancetohorizontalmovementandtheamountofsuchmovement.
Beamendrotationsuptoabout0.02radianscanreadilybeacceptedbyaddingtotheeffective
elastomerthickness.
Bearingscanbemoldedinrectangular,square,circularorothershapes.Notethatcustom
shapes,clippedcorners,slotted,skewedandtaperedbearingsmaycarrycostpremiumsdueto
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moldmodifications.
PlainElastomericPads,withoutinternalshimplates,canalsobesuppliedbyCosmec.These
PlainElastomericPadscanbemoldedthesameasLaminatedBearingPads.
DESIGNALTERNATIVES
Taperedbearingscanbeprovided.Thetapercanbeaccomplishedbyusingataperedsteel
plate(Fig.1),orforslighttapers,bytaperingtheelastomerlayers.Specialloadingscan
sometimesbemetbyinclinedmountingofbearings.
AparticularlycommonvariationisshowninFig.2.ThishybridElastomeric/SlidingBearing
providesastainlesssteelonPTFEslipplaneontopofaconventionalElastomericBearing.
Dailymovementsaretakenwithintheelastomergreatermovementscausegreatershear
forceintheelastomer,whichovercomesthefrictionatthePTFE/stainlesssteelinterface
therebyaccommodatingthesegreater,lessfrequentmovementsthroughsliding.
Customizedancillaryplates(orLoadplates)canbevulcanizebondedtobearingstoprovide
specializedmountingandanchoringsystems(SeeFigs.AthroughC).Theycanbeshaped
and/ordrilledtomostrequirements.Iftheyaretobeweldedinplace,theymustbedetailedto
mitigateexcessiveheattransfertotheelastomer.OurEngineeringStaffwillbepleasedto
adviseyouonanyspecialprojectapplicationorrequirements.
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DESIGN
WhileAASHTOSpecificationsallowtwodesignapproaches(MethodsAandB,Section14)many
Stateshavesuperimposedtheirownlimitationsonthedesignprocess.Localrequirements
shouldbecheckedbeforecommencingdesign.
Howeverthefollowingformulaeoffersimplepredictionsoftheperformanceofbearingswith
fullybondedlayers*:
Where:
L isbearinglength
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B isbearingwidth
D isdiameterofacircularbearing
K1 isthespringrateincompression
K2 isthespringrateinshear
A isplanareaofthebearing
t isthethicknessoftheindividualelastomer
layers
n isthenumberofindividualelastomerlayers
G istheshearmodulusoftheelastomer(see
Table1)
EC isthecompressionmodulusoftheelastomer
Alsonotethat:
Where:
Eo isYoungsModulusfortheelastomer(seeTable
1)
K isanumericalfactor(seeTable1)
S istheshapefactor,definedastheloadedarea
dividedbytheforcearea.
Intheinterestoflongevity,compressionstrainshouldbelimitedto15%andshearstrainto
50%.
Toinsurestability,totalbearingthicknessshouldnotexceedthesmallerofL/3,B/3orD/4for
LaminatedBearings.
*Ifeither,orbothfacesofanindividualelastomerlayerarenotbondedtoasteelplate,then
compressionwillbemodifiedbythebfactor.Thebfactoris1forafullybondedlayer,1.4for
alayerbondedononeface,and1.8foranunbondedlayer.(Notethatthebfactordoesnot
applytoshearcalculations).
TABLE1
MATERIALS
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TheelastomersusedinourbearingsconformtoStateand/orAASHTOSpecificationsfor
bearings.TheirminimumphysicalcharacteristicsareasshowninTable2.Additionalphysical
characteristicsmayberequired.Useofpolychloroprene(neoprene)orpolyisoprene(natural
rubber)isinfluencedbyfactorssuchastemperature,costandslippage.Otherelastomersmay
berecommendedforspecialapplications.
TABLE2
Reinforcingplates(orshims),typicallyaremadefromrolledmildsteelsuchasASTMA570or
A1011(orequivalent).Othermetalscanbesuppliedonspecialorder.
STRUCTURALDESIGN
Bearingsarenormallymountedwiththeirshortsideparalleltothegirderaxisformaximum
rotationcapacity.Howeverorientationatanyangleinthehorizontalplanewillnotaffectthe
shearresistance.
Frictionisusuallysufficienttokeepbearingsinplace,butifminimumloadsarelight,thena
slippagecheckmustbemadeuseafrictioncoefficientof0.2betweenelastomerandsteelor
precastconcrete.Acoefficientof0.3maybeusedforelastomeragainstbroomfinished
concreteorsimilarroughenedsurface.
Ifpositivelocationisrequired,vulcanizedbondingtosteelplatesissuggested(seeFigureC).
VariousinstallationarrangementsareshowninFiguresAthroughC.
INSTALLATION
Seatingonflat,broomfinishedconcrete,freeofvoids,oronmillfinishedsteelplateis
satisfactory.Ifagroutpadisspecifieditshouldbeahighstrengthnonshrinkmaterial.Epoxy
groutmayservetocorrectseatinginaccuracies.Byplacingthebearingandbeambeforethe
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epoxyhasset,excessepoxywillbeextrudedfromhighspotsandremaininvoids.Loading
subsequenttotheepoxysetting,willthenbedistributedevenly.
Ifformworkiserectedaroundabearingforpouredinplaceconstruction,allowancemustbe
madeforbearingcompressiontoavoidjammingtheformwork.
Notethatiftheweldingofattachmentplatesiscontemplated,cautionmustbe
exercisedtopreventtemperaturesexceeding250F/130Cattherubber/steel
interface.Temperaturesabovethismaydamagetheelastomer.
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