Investigation of partially bonded fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators (PB-FREIs) with nominal vertical tensile loads

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2019

Publication Title

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering

Volume

46

Issue

8

First Page

669

Keywords

Base isolation, Elastomeric isolator, Experimental testing, Fiber reinforced, Partially bonded, Tensile

Last Page

676

Abstract

Unbonded fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators (FREIs) were initially proposed as a potential low-cost alternative to conventional steel-reinforced elastomeric isolators (SREIs). FREIs are similar to SREIs but comparatively lightweight as the steel components from SREIs have been replaced with polymer fibers in FREIs. Subsequent experimental investigations identified that unbonded FREIs have desirable characteristics for seismic isolation due to the unbonded application and fiber reinforcement. The unbonded application removes mechanical fasteners, relying on friction to transfer horizontal loads, further reducing the cost. However, the unbonded application also introduces limitations, being susceptible to slip in certain loading conditions and being incapable of resisting tensile forces. In this paper, the concept of partially bonded FREIs (PB-FREIs), a proposed solution to these limitations, is further investigated experimentally with nominal vertical tensile loads. It is shown that PB-FREIs can achieve similar properties to an unbonded FREI with a vertical compressive load.

DOI

10.1139/cjce-2018-0014

ISSN

03151468

E-ISSN

12086029

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