EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MULTI-LEAD RUBBER BEARING AND ITS EXPLICIT FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

The mechanical property tests on multi-lead rubber bearings were conducted, the results were compared with theoretical calculation consequence. It is found that performance of multi-lead rubber bearings are steady, also with excellent working performance, convenience installation. They are ideal bridge isolated devices. Based on the study, the analysis of the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of multi-lead rubber bearings by using explicit finite element software ANSYS/LS-DYNA is presented. After create FEA model of representative samples, the lead-rubber bearing in a horizontal cyclic shear under a compressive axial load is simulated. The analytical results are compared with experimental results, and small difference is found. Thus, the proposed method can be applied to acquire the mechanical parameters of bearings, which are useful in design new bearings.