BEARING DESIGN

Presented by:
Hwang PY
INTRODUCTION

 WHAT IS BEARING….?

Bearings are structural devices positioned between the

bridge superstructure and the substructure. There
principal functions are as follows:

1. To transmit loads from the superstructure to the

substructure, and
2. To accommodate relative movements between
superstructure and the substructure
Elastomeric Bearing
 Pot Bearing

Rocker Bearing
FORCES ON BEARING
 The forces applied to a bridge bearing include:

Superstructure self weight, traffic loads , wind

loads, and earthquake loads.

 Movement in bearing include:

Translations = Creep, shrinkage and temperature effect

Rotations = Traffic and uneven settlement of the fdt
FORCES ON BEARING
TYPES OF BEARINGS
Bearings may be classified as Fixed Bearings and
Expansion Bearings.

 Fixed Bearings allow rotations but restrict translational

moments

 Expansion Bearings allow both rotational and translational

moments
EVALUTION OF BEARINGS
POT BEARINGS
 POT bearing consists of a circular non-reinforced rubber-
pad fully enclosed in a steel pot. The rubber is prevented
from bulging by the pot walls and it acts similar to a fluid
under high pressure

 In POT bearing, two most important synthetic materials i.e.

Elastomer & PTFE are utilised. Elastomer has an excellent
property of providing translation and rotation without any
moving parts.In POT-PTFE bearing, the latter part is
utilised by completely encasing the elastomer pad in steel
casing or POT. PTFE has an excellent property of having
very low coefficient of friction and in the free end, a sliding
component is added on top of POT, comprising stainless
steel and PTFE for translation. The rotation, therefore, is
provided by elastomer due to differential compression and
translation by steel and PTFE.
POT BEARINGS
POT BEARINGS
POT BEARINGS
POT BEARINGS
 DESIGN OF ELASTOMERIC BEARINGS
AASHTO LRFD PROVISIONS (REF AASHTO LRFD CHAP 14)

 Combinations of different types of fixed and movable bearings should not be

used at the same expansion joint.

 Skew angle over 30 degree needs to be considered in analysis.

 Tapered elastomer layers should not be used.

 All internal layers of elastomer should be of the same thickness.

 The top and bottom cover layers should not be thicker than 70% of
the internal layers.
 DESIGN OF ELASTOMERIC BEARINGS
The design procedure is according to AASHTO LRFD Chap:14
and is follows:

1. Determine girder temperature movement (Art 5.4.2.2).

2. Determine girder shortenings due to post-tensioning, concrete
shrinkage, etc.
3. Select a bearing thickness based on the bearing total movement
requirement (Art 14.7.5.3.4).
4. Compute the bearing size based on bearing compressive stress
(Art 14.7.5.3.2).
5. Compute instantaneous compressive deflection (Art 14.7.5.3.3).
6. Combine bearing maximum rotation.
7. Check bearing compression and rotation. (Art 14.7.5.3.5).
8. Check bearing stability (Art 14.7.5.3.6).
9. Check bearing steel reinforcement (Art 14.7.5.3.7).
DESIGN EXAMPLE
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1.

2.
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3.
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5.

= 0.062X20 = 1.24mm > 1.4mm (0.07hri)

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6.
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7.
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8.
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ELASTOMERIC BEARING DETAILS :

Five internal layers with 20 mm thickness each layer

Two external layers with 10 mm thickness each layer
Six steel reinforcements with 1.2 mm each
BEARING SIZE = 300mm X 460mm X 127.2mm
DESIGN EXAMPLE CONT…

Steel
Plate = 6
1.2 mm each

Elastomeric Layers = 5
127.2 mm
20 mm thick

300 mm
 ELASTOMERIC BEARING DESIGN BY
FREYSSINET CATALOGUE
DATA FROM PREVIOUS EXAMPLE:

 DL Reaction = 690 KN
 LL Reaction = 220 KN
 Total Reaction = 690 + 220 = 910 KN
 Total Horizontal Movement = 38.4 ~ 40 mm
 Bearing Rotation = 0.025 rad

RESULT :
Seven internal layers with 8 mm thickness each layer
Two external layers with 2.5 mm thickness each layer
Eight steel reinforcements with 3 mm each
BEARING SIZE = 250mm X 400mm X 85mm
 REFERENCES

 AASHTO LRFD BRIDGE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS 2004.

 BRIDGE ENGINEERING HANDBOOK CHAPTER 26.
 ELASTOMERIC BEARINGS FREYSSINET CATALOGUE.
 CONCRETE BRIDGE PRACTICE BY V.K.RAINA .
 BRIDGE DECK ANALYSIS BY EUGENE J.C’ BRIEN AND
Damien l. Keogh.