Mechanical Characteristics of Bearings

under
Compression and Bending

Gokarna Bahadur Motra

Horizontal Stiffness of Elastomeric Bearings
• Horizontal stiffness of elastomeric bearing is given by
GA
KH 
tr

• G is the shear modulus of elastomer, A is the full cross-sectional area and tr is the
total thickness of the rubber.
• The maximum horizontal displacement D is related to the maximum shear strain γ
by
D

tr
Behavior of Multilayer Bearings Under Compression and Bending
• The vertical frequency of an isolated structure can often be an important design criterion
and this is controlled by the vertical stiffness of the bearings that comprise the system.
• The initial response of a bearing under vertical load depends on several factors and is very
non-linear. Bearings usually have a substantial run-in before the full vertical stiffness is
developed, and this run-in is generally accepted to be strongly influenced by the
alignment of the reinforcing shims and other aspects of the workmanship in the molding
process.
• Another aspect of bearing performance is the buckling behavior of an isolation bearing
where the response of the compressed bearing to bending moments is considered. This is
known as the tilting stiffness.
• The vertical stiffness of a rubber bearing is given by the formula.
Ec A
Kv 
tr
where A is the area of the bearing, tr is the total thickness of rubber in the bearing
and Ec is the instantaneous compression modulus of the rubber-steel composite under the
specified level of vertical load
Behavior of Multilayer Bearings Under Compression and Bending

• The value of Ec for a single rubber layer is controlled by the shape factor, S, defined
as Loaded Area
S
Free Area
which is a dimensionless measure of the aspect ratio of the single layer of the
elastomer. In an infinite strip of width 2b and with a single layer thickness of t
b
S
t
• For a circular pad of diameter F and thickness t

S
4t
• For a square pad of side a and thickness t
a
S
4t
• The theory that is used to predict the compression system and the tilting stiffness is a
linear elastic.
Behavior of Multilayer Bearings Under Compression and Bending

• The analysis for the compressive and tilting

stiffnesses is an approximate one based on a ad
hoc assumptions.
• Assumption related to kinematics of the
deformation: i) Points on a vertical line before
deformation lie on a parabola after loading;
ii) Horizontal planes remain horizontal.
• The displacements, u, v, w, in the coordinate
directions under assumptions (i) and (ii) are

(a) Rubber pad showing (x,y,z) axes. (b)

Uniformly compressed pad between rigid
constraint plates. (c) Pad in pure flexure
between rigid constraint plates.
Behavior of Multilayer Bearings Under Compression and Bending
• The instantaneous compression modulus, Ec, can
be expressed as P
Ec 
A c

• For an infinite strip of width b the, load per unit

length of the strip, P, is given by
b
8Gb 2
P
b
pdx  2  c
t
Fig.: Infinitely long rectangular pad
• Since the shape factor, S = b/t, and the area per
unit length is A = 2b P
Ec   4GS 2
A c
• For a circular pad, S = R/2t and A = pR2, we
have
Ec  6GS2

Fig.: Circular pad.

Behavior of Multilayer Bearings Under Compression and Bending
• For a square bearing with side length a,
Ec  6.73GS 2
• In some cases bearings are designed with unfilled central
holes with inside radius a and outside radius b, for which
 
b 2  a 2   b 2  a 2 /  ln b / a  
 
Ec  6GS 2 , where  =

b2  a 2 

Reduction of compression modulus

Shear Stress due to Compression
• The shear stress/shear strain developed under direct compression is also very
important for design purposes
z z
 xz  8Gu0 2 and  yz  8Gv0 2
t t
b
 max  6G  c
t
• In terms of S, maximum shear strain is given by
 max  6S c   c
• For a circular pad, the maximum shear stress occurs at the top and bottom edges of
the periphery of the pad and is
3GR
 max   c which is equivalent to  c  6 S c
t
• Criteria for maximum shear strain: Shear strain due to shear deformation of the
pad, gs, plus the shear strain due to the compression, gc, should be less or equal to
the elongation to break, eb.
1
 s   c  b
2
Shear Stress due to Compression
• Elastomer material is strain-sensitive and G is often modified, particularly in
highly filled rubbers, according to the strain level.
• Since in compression the shear strain varies widely over the volume of the pad,
the appropriate value of the modulus used to estimate the average strain calculated
based on the elastic stored energy in the pad.
2b
 avg   c  2 S C
t
• For the circular pad
 avg  6 S C
Tilting Stiffness of a Single Pad
• The tilting stiffness is computed using the displaced configuration in two stages.
First is the deformation, (shown in Fig.), due to elementary beam bending theory.
This cannot satisfy the incompressibility constraint, so pure shear deformation is
superimposed as second deformation. The displacement field is given by
Tilting Stiffness of a Single Pad
• Comparing this with the beam bending equation, M = EI/r, where I is the moment
of inertia of a beam cross-section with the shape of the pad, Ec = 4GS2, S = b/t,
then E1 = Ec (2/15)b3. Thus the effective I for the strip is (2/15)b3 or 1/5I. This
reduction is caused by the fact that the pressure distribution varies cubically across
the width of the strip, whereas in a beam, the stress distribution would be linear.
• For a circular pad

• The effective moment of inertia in this case, taking E = Ec= 6GS2, is pR4/12 or
one-third of the conventional moment of inertia.
Pure Compression of Single Pads with Large Shape Factors
• The compression theory in rubber pad is based on the assumption of the
displacement pattern given by Eqns.

Further assumption that the normal stress components in all three directions can be
approximated by the pressure, p, in the material.
• For small S, Ec is given by

• For very large value of S, where (12GS2/K)1/21

  K 1/2 
Ec  K 1    
  12GS  
2
 
Compression Stiffness for Circular Pads with Large Shape Factors
• For small values of, S the compression modulus is given by

• For large values of S, the compression modulus is given by

Compression Stiffness for Square Bearings with Large Shape Factors

• The compression modulus is given by
Tilting Stiffness of Single Pads with Large Shape Factors

• Considering the bulk compressibility, the estimate of the tilting stiffness is given by
Buckling Behavior of Elastomeric Bearings
• Multilayer bearing may be susceptible to a buckling type of
instability similar to ordinary columns, but dominated by the
low-shear stiffness of a bearing. Deformation of single pad can
be used in buckling analysis that treats the bearing as a
continuous composite system.
• The bearing will be constrained against displacement at the
bottom, rotation at the top and bottom, and is free to move
sideways at the top as shown in Fig. Setting x = 0 at the bottom
of the bearing and x = h at the top, we get

• GA = Ps
• Euler load for standard column is
Buckling Behavior of Elastomeric Bearings
• For most types of bearings where S is 5 or greater, PE » Ps and the critical load can
be approximated by

• where r2 = I/A = 2a/3 for square bearing with side a and F/4 for a circular
bearing with diameter, F.
• Neglecting the effect of the vertical load, P, the horizontal stiffness, KH, of the
bearing is given by KH = GA/tr and this in tum is connected to the horizontal
frequency, H, through
K
H2  H g
W
Buckling Behavior of Elastomeric Bearings
• Safety factor, S.F., against buckling, defined by P 2 SH2 r
S .F .  crit 
W g
• Thus, all other things being equal, the safety factor increases with the shape factor,
S, frequency, H, or bearing size (either a or F).
• The bearing size will depend on the carried load. If the pressure, p =W/A is
specified, then r will be for square bearing and for circular
bearing. If the pressure is fixed, the safety factor will diminish as W1/2. This leads
to the unexpected result that the buckling can become a problem for bearings
that are lightly loaded. To get a feeling for the magnitude of the quantities
involved, suppose that the safety factor must be at least 3, the shape factor, S,
is 10, and the frequency is π rad S-1 (2.0 s period), all of which are typical
values. Then r must be at least
Buckling Behavior of Elastomeric Bearings

• For most buildings, the bearing will be much larger than this minimum size and
the carried loads will be in the hundreds of tons, so that buckling is not likely to be
a problem for the design.
Influence of Vertical Load on Horizontal Stiffness

• When the load carried by the bearing is comparable to the buckling load, then the
relation for horizontal stiffness, KH = GA/tr , may need to be modified.
• For a horizontal force, FH, at the top of bearing, the resulting displacement at the
top, v(h), is known, then the horizontal stiffness, KH, is given by

• KH is finally is given by
Mechanical Characteristics of Lead-Plug Bearings
• These are modelled as bilinear elements, with their characteristics based on three
parameters: K1, K2 and Q. The stiffness K1 is difficult to measure and is expressed
empirical multiple of K2, the post-yielded stiffness. K2 can be accurately estimated
from the shear modulus of the rubber and bearing design. The characteristics
strength Q is the intercept of the hysteresis curve and the force axis and can be
accurately estimated from the yield stress of lead [10.3MPa (1500psi)] and the
lead plug area.
• The effective stiffness of a lead-plug bearing, defined on the basis of peak-to-peak
loads, steadily reduces with displacement. In terms of K1, K2 and Q, it is given by
Q
K eff  K 2  D  Dy
D