Influence of End Geometry on Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Isolator Bearings

Abstract eng:
The isolators investigated in this paper comprise a novel base isolation system developed specifically for the seismic mitigation of ordinary low-rise buildings. This novel base isolation system employs “Stable Unbonded Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Isolators” (SU-FREI). A fiber reinforced elastomeric isolator utilizes fiber fabric, such as carbon fiber, as the reinforcement material instead of solid steel plates. The fiber fabric reinforcement is extensible in tension and has no flexural rigidity. In an unbonded application, the FREI bearings are placed between the superstructure and substructure with no bonding or fastening required between the contact surfaces. An experimental study is conducted on model scale prototype FREI bearings constructed using unfilled soft Neoprene rubber as the elastomer, and bi-directional carbon fiber fabric as the reinforcement. Three different end geometries are considered and the influence of the different end configurations on the response behavior of the isolators is investigated by means of cyclic testing.

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