Behaviour of laminated elastomeric bearings

Experimental work undertaken to investigate the behaviour of laminated elastomeric bridge bearings under compression and a combination of compression and shear or rotation has been reported on elsewhere. However, it is difficult to determine the state of stress within the bearings in terms of the applied forces or the interaction between the steel shims and the rubber layers in the bearings. In order to supply some of the missing information about the stress-strain state within the bearings, an analytical study using the finite element method was carried out. The available experimental results were used to validate the model after which the analyses were used to provide further information about the state of stress within the bearing.