Development of a new seismic isolator named "ball rubber bearing"

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2010

Öğrenci: CENAN ÖZKAYA

Eş Danışman: UĞURHAN AKYÜZ, ALP CANER

Özet:

The experimental research presented in this dissertation aims to develop a new rubber– based seismic isolator type on the basis of the idea that the damping of a conventional annular elastomeric bearing (EB) can be increased by filling its central core with small diameter steel balls, which dissipate energy via friction inside the confined hole of the bearing during their movements under horizontal loads. The proposed bearing type is called “Ball Rubber Bearing (BRB)”. A large set of BRBs with different geometrical and material properties are manufactured and tested under reversed cyclic horizontal loading at different vertical compressive load levels. Effect of supplementary confinement in the central hole of the bearing to performance of BRB is studied by performing some additional tests. Test results are used to develop design equations for BRB. A detailed non-linear finite element model is developed to verify the test results. The proposed analytical model is determined to simulate the structural hysteretic behaviour of the bearings. In design of BRBs, the proposed design guideline can be used in conjunction with the proposed non-linear finite element analysis. Extensive test results indicate that steel balls do not only increase the energy dissipation capacity of the elastomeric bearing (EB) but also increase its horizontal and vertical stiffness. It is also observed that the energy dissipation capacity of a BRB does not degrade as the number of loading cycles increases, which indicates remarkably reliable seismic performance.