Behavioral Study of Steel Reinforced Elastomeric Bearings in Bridges

Book excerpt: This thesis primarily predicts the compressive and rotational stiffness of the elastomeric bearing and exams the behavior of elastomeric bearing under compression, rotation, and combination of shear, compression, and rotational loading. The primary purpose of an elastomeric bearing is to distribute the superstructure loads to the substructure. The elastomers used in the elastomeric bearings undergo deformation to allow necessary movement and rotation of the superstructure. Thus, abstract analysis of the behavior of the elastomeric bearing is required. With that end in view, three-dimensional finite element models are developed using the software Abaqus and the results from the finite element analysis are validated with the experimental data from previous literature. The validated finite element models are used for the calculation of compressive and rotational stiffness of the elastomeric bearings and comparisons are made with the analytical closed-form solutions and current code provision (AASHTO, 2017). Moreover, the bearings are subjected to compression, rotation, and a combination of shear, compression, and rotational loading for the prediction of deformed shape, compressive stress, shear stresses, and shear strains.