1.

STUs must be load tested before installation just like other bridge equipment, such
ass, bearings, expansion joint, etc. Unfortunately, testing of STUs is quite a
expensive business and testing cost depends on the number and type of tests to be
carried on an STU to be used for a particular application.

2. A Shock Transmission Unit (STU), also known as lock up device (LUD), is

designed to be connected between bridge members to form a rigid link under
rapidly applied loads, such ass, braling and seismic, etc. But to move freely under
slowly applied loads, such as, temperature ans creep shrinkage. Such a temporary
fixed connection facilitated by an STU allow a load sharing of a suddenly applied
force. Longitudinal traction, braking forces, vehicle impact and seismic load, etc,
are examples of such short duration horizontal loads applied suddenly to bridge
structures, transmitting short duration shock or impact forces. The unit is connected
between elements of bridge structure at expansion joint or near the bearing between
the superstructure and the substructure subject to long term separation movement
due to creep, shrinkage and tempeture to beneficially share among them short
duration loads applied to any one off the supstructure elements. Shock transmission
units work on the principle that rapid passage off viscous fluid through a norrow
gap, orifice or valve generates considerable resistance while slow passage generates
only minor resistane.

3. The STU consists of a machined cylinder with a transmission rod that is connected
at one end to the structure and at the other end to the piston inside the cylinder. The
medium within the cylinder is a specially formulated silicone compound, precisely
designed for the performance characteristics of a specific project. During slow
movement caused by temperature change in the structure or shrinkage and long
term creep off concrete, the silicone is able to squeeze through the gap between the
piston and cylinder wall. By tuning the desired clearance between the piston and
the cylinder wall, different characteristics can be achieved.

When a short duration load resulting from a seismic event, braking forces, etc,
occurs, the unit “lock up” as silicone compound cannot pass fast enough around the
piston and there is minimal movement of piston.

The device is designed to perform in either tension or compression. As the reseval

in motion occurs during an earthquake, the device locks almost instantaneously in
each direction.
4. The shock transmission unit (STU) is developed for structural protection, and its
structure looks like viscous damper. However, their operate mode is different. The
viscous damper decreases the shock effect by means of passive energy dissipation,
while the STU decreases the shock effect by means of increasing the path of force
transmission. The STU can be regarded as a binary stiffness link, and its stiffness
changes along with the relative velocity between the structure components. When
the relative velocity is slow, the stiffness of the STU is very small, so it cannot
produce harmful restriction to resist the structure normal movement, such as
thermal movements, creep and shrinkage. On the contrary, when the structural
members suffer braking, seismic, storm or other sudden applied loads, the STU can
provide a temporary rigid link to realize the energy distribution. Due to the
characteristic, the STU is widely used in the field of structural protection, like
bridge, building and so on. The layout of the STU can be seen in Figure 1. The
research about the STU focuses on the antiseismic application and the antiseismic
analysis. But the concerned knowledge of design work for the STU is lacking,
especially about the design of annular discharge orifice. The purpose of this study
was firstly to establish the mathematical model for designing of annular discharge
orifice, and then the test of STU was carried out. The test results indirectly verify
the validity of the mathematical model

5. The cutaway drawing of the STU is shown in Figure 2. As the piston moves in the
cylinder filled with silicone-based putty, the silicone-based putty flow from one
side of the piston to the other by annular discharge orifice. The silicone-based putty
is a nonNewtonian fluid, which offers ease of movement under slowly applied load
and yet exhibits excellent resistance to flow when at rest. The STU can achieve the
change of the stiffness, which is just making use of annular discharge orifice to
control the rheological behavior of the silicone-based putty. Therefore, the annular
discharge orifice is a key design parameter of STU. The proper dimension of the
annular discharge orifice can make the stiffness difference of STU maximum in
different conditions.