A BI-AXIAL EXTENDED BI-LINEAR HYSTERETIC MODEL FOR LAMINATED RUBBER BEARINGS

Abstract

 Laminated rubber bearings are the most major devices for base-isolation of buildings and bridges. This paper presents a 2D mechanical model of laminated rubber bearings based on the wildly-used 1D bi-linear elasto-plastic model. At fist, the 1D bi-linear model is extended into 2D one through the classical plasticity theory, and its numerical algorithm is also developed. Then, the 2D bi-linear model is complemented by adding two hardening functions and one damage function, in order to express typical mechanical behavior of the bearings such as hardening and Mullins' effect. Finally, bi-axial loading experiments of a small high damping rubber bearing are conducted, and their results are compared with the proposed model. As a results, it is found that the model can well reproduce the experimental results.