Seismic response of isolated bridge with high damping rubber bearings - Self-heating effect at subzero temperatures

Kurita-Albrecht Best Scientific Paper Award - Steel at 12th Japan German Bridge Symposium, September 2018 in Munich
The temperature dependence of the mechanical behaviour of high damping rubber bearings (HDRBs) was investigated by way of cyclic loading tests at different ambient temperatures. As the number of loading cycles increased, so the difference between the ambient and internal temperatures of HDRBs increased due to self-heating, especially in subzero environments. It was found that the mechanical behaviour of HDRBs is governed by their internal temperatures, not by the ambient temperatures. A simple method for estimating the internal temperature is proposed. Previous cyclic loading tests results at different ambient temperatures have been re-examined based on the internal temperatures obtained from the proposed internal temperature estimation method. The temperature dependence of HDRBs is summarized in terms of the internal temperatures. The conventional temperature dependence based on the ambient temperature may underestimate the seismic response of bridges with HDRBs, especially for subzero environments.