COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MATERIALS FOR REINFORCEMENT IN BRIDGE PIER BEARINGS

Elastomeric bearings are design efficient and economical, hence widely used in bridge construction worldwide. These bearings need reinforcement to restrict vertical deformation which is generally provided in terms of steel plates. In present study, mechanical property analysis on elastomeric bearing is carried by changing materials of reinforcement. The results suggest that it is possible to produce the strong and effective reinforced elastomeric bearing using material other than steel, that matches the behavior of a steel-reinforced bearing. The study compares the design of bearing reinforced using ASTM B22 and an optimized alloy with the conventional steel laminates used for bearing reinforcement. The bearing used in the case study is designed for the forces applicable to metro rail viaduct. The load calculations are done according to the specification provided by BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited). The analysis for the stress and deformation is performed using ANSYS. The maximum stress and strain in the bearing using new materials as reinforcement were found to be slightly lesser than the bearing using conventional steel reinforced bearing.