DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

Apoyos de neopreno, aislamiento sísmico, puentes vehiculares, disipación de energía, Rubber bearings, seismic isolation, vehicular bridges, energy dissipation.

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

The dynamic response of conventional bridge rubber bearings is studied in this paper. The purpose is to assess the ability of seismic isolation of these bearings through the analysis of finite element models. Models with different lateral stiffness are subjected to different dynamic lateral loads (earthquake records, vibration tests and theoretical signals). The effectiveness of the bearings is evaluated trough quotients that relate the model response with the excitation. Two types of response are studied, maximum accelerations and Arias intensity. Additionally, hysteresis plots are obtained in order to estimate the dissipated energy by the bearings and the damping increasing or degradation. The obtained results are useful to make decisions concerning to the characteristics required for the conventional rubber bearings in order to increase their ability as seismic isolators and energy dissipation devices.

Keywords: Rubber bearings, seismic isolation, vehicular bridges, energy dissipation.