Prestress Rubber Isolator and its Mechanical Properties

Abstract

A new seismic isolation system,namely the prestress rubber isolator(PRI,Chinese patent application number:200910174415x),is introduced.The basic principle of this new isolator is: making all or part of vertical deformation of isolator be finished in advance by exerting a longitudinal pre-compressional stress on the rubber isolator with flexible cables, the prestress tension cables become loose because of unloading after the exerting of superstructure loads,and the loose cables can limit the horizontal displacement and resist the tension of isolator. The calculation formula of horizontal stiffness of isolator is derivated,and the mechanical properties are researched. The research results show that:besides the horizontal isolating property of common rubber isolators,the prestress rubber isolator has also properties of reducing vertical deformation, limiting horizontal displacement and resisting tension.Moreover,the prestress isolator has also a certain vertical isolating affect because of the improve of rubber thickness.

Experimental Evaluation of Low-Pass Shock Isolation Performance of Elastomers Using Frequency-Based Kolsky Bar Analyses

“…Such mechanical property changes are expected to change the shock or impact isolation performance (Nelson 1996). In addition, due to nonlinear mechanical response, the preload changes the initial stress state of the elastomers and consequently influences their shock or impact isolation performance (Thorin et al 2012) in applications ranging from the electronics industry to protect computer hard drives (Park et al 2012) to automotive industry engine mounts (Cardillo 1964) to civil structural applications for seismic isolation of buildings (Zou et al 2011).…”