NCEER-Taisei Research Program on Sliding Seismic Isolation Systems for Bridges: Experimental and Analytical Study of a System Consisting of Sliding Bearings and Fluid Restoring Force/Damping Devices

Keywords: Sliding Isolation Systems, Fluid Restoring Force Damping Devices, Bridges, Sliding Disc Bearings, Shaking Table Tests, Analytical Models, and Earthquake Engineering.

Abstract: This report describes the results of an experimental study of the behavior of a bridge seismic sliding isolation system consisting of flat sliding bearings and fluid restoring force/damping devices. Earthquake simulator tests have been performed on a model bridge structure both isolated with this system and non-isolated. The experimental results demonstrate a marked increase of the capacity of the isolated bridge to withstand earthquake forces. Analytical techniques are used to predict the dynamic response of the system and the obtained results are in very good agreement with the experimental results.