See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226434007

Effect of Lead Rubber Bearing Characteristics

on the Response of Seismic-isolated Bridges

Article in KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering · May 2008

DOI: 10.1007/s12205-008-0187-9

CITATIONS READS

13 372

4 authors, including:

Asif Hameed
University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
16 PUBLICATIONS 31 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Asif Hameed on 20 May 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering (2008) 12(3):187-196 Structural Engineering
DOI 10.1007/s12205-008-0187-9
www.springer.com/12205

Effect of Lead Rubber Bearing Characteristics on the Response

of Seismic-isolated Bridges
Asif Hameed*, Min-Se Koo**, Thang Dai Do***, and Jin-Hoon Jeong****
Received September 27, 2007/Accepted Januray 7, 2008

···································································································································································································································

Abstract

A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of lead rubber bearing (LRB) isolator and ground motion characteristics on
the response of seismic isolated bridges. The purpose was to investigate the most favorable parameters of the LRB for minimum
earthquake response of the isolated bridge system for different ground motions. The important parameters included are: ground motion
characteristic by considering peak ground acceleration to peak ground velocity, PGA/PGV ratio as damage index; characteristic
strength, Qd of the LRB isolator normalized by the weight acting on the isolator; flexibility of isolator by varying post yield time
period, Td; and yield stiffness to post yield stiffness, Ku/Kd ratio. The performance of seismic isolated bridge is measured by the
variation of maximum isolator displacement (MID), maximum isolator force (MIF), deck acceleration and pier base shear. For a
specified ground motion, smaller MID and MIF are regarded as indicator of better seismic performance. It is found that there exists a
particular value of Qd/W, Td and Ku/Kd for which the MID, MIF, deck acceleration and pier base shear attain the minimum values.
Finally the recommendations are made which are useful for the design engineers at the preliminary seismic isolation design of the
bridges with LRB isolator for the ground motion having different characteristics.
Keywords: bridge, seismic-isolation, lead rubber bearing characteristics, bilinear force-displacement relationship, ground motion
characteristics
···································································································································································································································

1. Introduction
The seismic forces on the bridge structures can be reduced if the
fundamental period of the structure is lengthened or the energy
dissipating capability is increased. Therefore, the seismic isolation is
a promising alternative for earthquake-resistant design of structures
(Oh and Kim, 1998; Kunde and Jangid, 2003). Seismic isolation is
essentially a method of controlling the seismic response of structures
through yielding of the isolators possessing generally bilinear force
deformation relationship. The effect of yielding on the seismic
response of it is to reduce the load for which a structure must be
designed to resist seismic forces (Chopra, 2001). Conceptually,
seismic isolation decouples the bridge structure from the
horizontal components of the ground motion by interposing
structural elements with low horizontal stiffness between the
structure and the foundation. This gives the structure a fundamental
frequency that is much lower than both its fixed-base frequency and
the predominant frequencies of the ground motion (Kelly, 1986).
A range of isolation devices including elastomeric bearings, lead
rubber bearings, frictional/sliding bearings have been developed
and used in aseismic design of buildings and bridges during the
last 20 years in many countries such as New Zealand, Japan,
USA and UK, etc. (Buckle and Mayes, 1990). The LRB is most
commonly used base isolation system (Kelly and Hodder, 1982).
The bearing is very stiff and strong in the vertical direction, but
flexible in the horizontal direction. These bearings are multilayered,
laminated elastomeric bearings that have one or more circular
holes. Lead plugs are inserted into these holes to add damping to
the isolation system. Several researchers have attempted to study
the performance and most favorable design parameters for
seismic-isolated structures with different isolators (Fragiacomo
et al., 2003). However the research related to optimum design of
LRB for seismic isolation of bridges is scarce (Warn and
Whittaker, 2004). Furthermore the performance of these bearings is
dependent on ground motion characteristics. Thus, further research
is required to study the effect of LRB and ground motion
characteristics on the performance of isolated bridges and to identify
the critical issues for the design of such bridges.
The specific objectives of the study are (i) to investigate the
performance of bridges isolated by LRB, (ii) to investigate the
effect PGA/PGV ratio as damage index on the response of the
seismically isolated bridges with LRB, and (iii) to investigate the
most favorable parameters of the LRB for minimum earthquake
response of the isolated system.

*Graduate Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea (E-mail: engr_asifhameed@yahoo.com)
**Member, Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea (E-mail: drkms@chollian.net)
***Graduate Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea (E-mail: dodaithang2003@yahoo.com)
****Member, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea (Corresponding Author, E-mail: jhj@inha.ac.kr)

 187 
 Asif Hameed, Min-Se Koo, Thang Dai Do, and Jin-Hoon Jeong
2. Modeling of Base-Isolated Bridges with Lead
Rubber Bearing
The elastomeric Lead Rubber Bearings (LRB) generally consist
of two fixing steel plates located at the top and bottom of the
bearing, several alternating layers of elastomer and steel shims and
a central lead core (Fig. 1(a)). The elastomeric material provides
the isolation component with lateral flexibility; the lead core
provides the energy dissipation or damping component, while the
internal steel shims provide the vertical load capacity of the
bearing. The steel shims, together with the top and bottom steel
fixing plates, also confine the central lead core. During the seismic
excitation of the structure, the rubber layers deform laterally by
shear deformation, allowing the structure to translate horizontally
and absorbing energy when the lead core yields (ASCE, 1998).
LRB can be considered to consist of two elements: (a) a linear
viscoelastic element representing the rubber component, and (b) a
linear elastic–perfectly plastic element simulating the lead plug
(Jerome, 2002). This model assumes that the response relationship is
bilinear, as indicated in Fig. 1(b). The stiffness of the rubber
bearing is Krubber K1 ˹ fdGs, where, Gs is the shear modulus of the
rubber and fd = A/h = A/ntb. Here, A is the cross-sectional area; tb
is the thickness of an individual rubber sheet, and n is the total
number of sheets. Each sheet is assumed to be in simple shear.
The linear elastic stiffness of the lead plug is Klead ˹ K2 = ApGp/
hp. Where, Ap, hp and Gp denote the cross-sectional area, height,
and shear modulus for the plug. Thus, the elastic shear stiffness
of the lead rubber bearing is Ku = K1+K2. The post yield stiffness,
Kd, is higher than the shear stiffness of the bearing without the
lead core since the lead core helps resist the force after it reaches
yield. Lastly, the displacement corresponding to the onset of
yielding is related to the yield strain for lead by uy = npJy. The
elastomer provides the isolation component and the lead core
provides the energy dissipation or damping component. The
maximum shear-strain range for lead rubber bearings varies as a
function of manufacturer but is generally between 125% and
200%. The bearing’s parameters that describe the lateral force–
displacement bilinear law are the initial elastic stiffness Ku, the
yielded stiffness Kd, the characteristic strength Qd. Values for these
parameters are acquired from the manufacturer of the bearing, so
as to be in accordance with the elaborated results from a series of
experimental tests, where the basic matching criterion is the
Fig. 1. (a) LRB System and (b) Bilinear Force-Displacement Characterization of LRB
 188 
equivalence of the hysteresis loop area between the experimental
and the analytical model (Ali et al., 1995).
Following AASHTO Guide Specifications for Seismic
Isolation Design (AASHTO, 1999), LRB is modeled by a
bilinear model based on the parameters as shown in the Fig. 1(b).
Here, Ku is the elastic stiffness; Kd is the post-yield stiffness; Qd is
the zero-displacement force-intercept; Fy is the yield force; Keff is
the effective stiffness; dy is the yield displacement; dmax is the
maximum displacement; Fmax is the maximum design force of
the isolator and EDC is the energy dissipated in one fully
reversed cycle to the maximum displacement shown by the area
within the force–displacement loop. The equivalent viscous
damping, E, can be approximated as E = EDC/2SKeffd2max.
Where, EDC is the total area under the hysteresis loops, Keff is
the effective stiffness, and dmax is the maximum displacement.
One of the most important parameters is Fy/W (the ratio of the
yield force of the isolator to the total weight of structure). It is
largely related to structural responses and the absorbing energy
of isolators under earthquake loadings (Park and Otsuka, 1999).
The yield strength of the isolator is associated with the charac-
teristic strength by the relation, Fy = Qd/(1-Kd/Ku). The
characteristic strength, Qd, depends on lead plug area, and the
shear yield stress of lead. Therefore the first parameter considered
in this study is the characteristic strength, Qd normalized by the
weight acting on the isolator. To consider the flexibility of the
isolator the second parameter is the post yield stiffness, Kd of the
LRB and it is designed in such a way as to provide the specific
value of the isolation period, Td expressed as:
W
Td = 2S ---------
Kd g
Where W is the weight acting on an individual isolator; and g is
the gravitational acceleration constant. The third parameter
considered in this study is effect of elastic stiffness to post yield
stiffness, Ku/Kd. There have been several studies investigating the
optimum design values for the lead rubber bearings. Skinner et al.
(1999) suggested typical value of Qd/W = 0.05 and Ku/Kd = 1/5 to
1/6 for moderate earthquakes. Park and Otsuka (1999) compared
different method to determine the yield ratio and recommended Qd/
W = 0.43 to 0.5 for moderate earthquakes. Naeim and Kelly (1999)
has given the design recommendation for Ku/Kd = 1/10. Jangid
(2006) recommended Qd/W = 0.10 to 0.15 and Td = 2.5 to 3 sec
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering
 Effect of Lead Rubber Bearing Characteristics on the Response of Seismic-isolated Bridges

for near fault ground motions. According to Park et al. (2002) the
natural period of the isolated structure should be long enough to
avoid the frequency range on which earthquake energy concentT
rates and short enough to resist the ambient vibration such as
traffic or wind induced. Based on the following recommenT
dations, the ranges of values for the parametric study are selected.
As shown in Table 1, thirty different isolation systems are
considered with Td ranging from 1.5 to 4.0 sec, Qd/W (zero-
displacement force-intercept normalized by the weight acting on
the isolator) ranging from 0.03 to 0.15 and Ku/Kd ratio by varying
its value from 2 to 20. In order to identify each isolation system, a
three-digit alphanumeric naming system is used. For example,
L42 denotes an isolation system with Qd/W = 0.12 and Td=2 sec.
3. Parametric Analysis
1988). Statistically, records with low PGA/PGV ratios (<7.5 sec1)
are associated with severe earthquakes having intense long-
duration pulses with low frequency contents and records with high
PGA/PGV ratios (>7.5 sec1) are normally associated with low to
moderate earthquakes and with high frequency contents (Nove,
2007). Earlier research studies have revealed that the seismic
response of a structural system may differ as a function of the
PGA/PGV ratio of the ground motion (Dicleli and Bruneau,
1995). Accordingly, ground motions with various PGA/PGV
ratios need to be used to cover a broad range of possibilities
concerning the seismic performance of seismic-isolated bridges.
Table 2 shows eight historic earthquake excitations used in this
study. These earthquake records have a variety of PGA and cover
various forms of the frequency range with PGA/PGV ratios
varying from 2.49 to 19.65 sec1.

3.1 Earthquake Ground Motions Characteristics and 3.2 Analysis Model

Parameter Considered in the Study
According to Nove (2007), characteristics of recorded motions
vary greatly from record to record. The intensity, the duration of
strong shaking and the frequency content of the records depend on
a number of factors including the magnitude of the earthquake, the
epicentral distance, and the local site conditions. The differences in
the characteristics of the recorded ground motions can lead to
substantial differences in the structural response. One major factor
that has significant effects on the structural response is the
frequency content of the recorded motions. A simple approach
based on the peak ground acceleration (PGA) to peak ground
velocity (PGV) ratio is commonly accepted for the estimation of
the frequency content of earthquake records (Heidebrecht and Lu,
In order to study the performance of LRB for bridges under
different earthquakes, a two span continuous deck bridge is
considered for the analysis. The bridge is a two-span structure
with 30 m span length and thus, the total length of the bridge is
60 m. The superstructure of the bridge consists of a 12 m wide,
25 cm thick cast-in place concrete deck supported on ASSHTO
type IV girders spaced at 2.4 m c/c. The girders are supported on
reinforced concrete column bent. The concrete column bent
consists of a 1.8m by 2.1 m cap beam and a 10 m high, 2 m diameter
column. At the ends of the bridge, the girders are supported on the
abutments. The mass of the superstructure is 573 u 103 kg. As
shown in the Fig. 2, the isolated bridge structure is modeled by finite
elements assuming the superstructure to be rigid. The superstructure

Table 1. Lead Rubber Bearing Parameter Matrix

Td (sec)
Qd/W
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
0.03 L11 L12 L13 L14 L15 L16
0.06 L21 L22 L23 L24 L25 L26
0.09 L31 L32 L33 L34 L35 L36
0.12 L41 L42 L43 L44 L45 L46
0.15 L51 L52 L53 L54 L55 L56

Table 2. Important Features of Earthquake Records Used in the Analysis

Record No. Earthquake PGA (g) PGV (cm/sec) PGA/PGV (1/sec)
1 T2-III-3 Hyougoken South, EW, 1995 0.63 249.09 2.49
2 T2-I-2 Hyougoken South, EW, 1995 0.78 177.78 4.31
3 T2-I-1 Hyougoken South, NS, 1995 0.83 162.94 4.99
4 El Centro Site, 270 1940 0.36 56.72 6.17
5 Northridge, Sylmar County Hosp., 90 Deg, 1994 0.60 77.38 7.67
6 San Fernando 8244 Orion Blvd., 90 Deg, 1971 0.26 29.70 8.42
7 San Fernando, 69 Deg Peak = 0.3154 g , 1971 0.32 19.99 15.48
8 park field Cholame, Shandon, 40 Deg, 1966 0.24 11.83 19.65

Vol. 12, No. 3 / May 2008  189 

 Asif Hameed, Min-Se Koo, Thang Dai Do, and Jin-Hoon Jeong

Fig. 2. (a) Nonlinear Analytical Model of the Bridge (b) Enlarged View of the Details at the Abutment

is modeled using linear elements, since the superstructure is
expected to remain elastic under the seismic loads applied. The
girders and cap beams are modeled with beam elements. The
bearings between girders and cap beams are modeled using
nonlinear link elements. The corresponding nodes between deck
and girder; girder and bearing; bearing and cap beam; cap beam
and top of the column are all connected with rigid link elements.
3.3 Analysis Results
In this study, the performance of seismic isolated bridge is
measured by the variation of maximum isolator displacement
(MID), maximum isolator force (MIF), deck acceleration and
pier base shear. The MID dictates: (a) the space around the
isolated superstructure to facilitate unrestricted movement of the
super-structure; (b) the shear strain in elastomeric isolators; (c)
the isolator stability; (d) the plan geometry of isolators; (e) the
width and type of the expansion joints; and in some cases, (f) the
width of the substructures may be governed by the MID. The
MIF characterizes the magnitude of the seismic force transmitted
to the substructures, thus it has a significant effect on the design of
the substructures. Consequently, for a specified ground motion,
smaller MID and MIF are the indicators of better seismic
performance of seismic isolated bridge with LRB isolator.
3.3.1 Effect of Ground Motion Characteristics (PGA/PGV
ratio) on the Response of LRB Isolated Bridge
While the PGA is a basic measure of earthquake potential but
it is not totally reliable. The examination of recorded seismic
events has shown that earthquakes with a very high PGA could
not produce appreciable structural damage, while earthquakes
with a very low PGA could produce an unexpectedly high level
of destruction. The PGA/PGV ratio is indicated by different
authors as being a measure of destructiveness (Zhu et al., 1988).
ThereforeGPGA/PGV ratio is used as damage index in this study.
Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the variation of MIF and MID with PGA/
PGV ratio for different Qd/W and Td values. It is found that the

Fig. 3. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; with PGA/PGV Ratio for Different Values of Qd/W (Td = 2.5 sec)

Fig. 4. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; with PGA/PGV Ratio for Different Values of Td (Qd/W = 0.06)

 190  KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering

 Effect of Lead Rubber Bearing Characteristics on the Response of Seismic-isolated Bridges
ground motions with low PGA/PGV ratio have large MIF and
MID, while the ground motions with high PGA/PGV ratios have
small MID and MIF. The reason is that records with high PGA/
PGV ratios are normally associated with low to moderate earth-
quakes with high frequency contents and irregular acceleration
pulses, which load and unload the isolated bridge in short time
intervals. As the seismic inertial force applied on the bridge
remains above the isolator’s yield strength level only for a short
duration, therefore, once the isolator reaches its yield strength,
isolator displacements beyond the yield point cannot be continued
for an extended period of time. As a result, the MIF and MID are
smaller for ground motions with high PGA/PGV ratios.
3.3.2 Effect of Qd/W Ratio on the Response of LRB Iso-
lated Bridge
Figs. 5 and 6 explain the variation of MIF, MID, deck
acceleration and pier base shear with Qd/W ratio for different post
yield time periods, Td. Results of the analysis for earthquakes with
PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1 have similar trend while the earthquake with
PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1Ghave matching results. Therefore for brevity
only the results of T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquakes (PGA/
PGV = 2.49 sec1<7.5 sec1) and San Fernando Earthquake (PGA/
PGV = 15.48 sec1>7.5 sec1) are presented and discussed here. Fig.
5 shows the results for T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake (PGA/
PGV<7.5 sec1). It is clear that for such earthquakes the MIF
increases while the MID decreases with the increase in Qd/W
ratios. The reduction in the MID is due to the reason that with the
increase in Qd/W ratio the isolation system becomes relative stiff, as
a result the bearing displacements, are reduced. However the pier
Fig. 5. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; (c) Deck Acceleration; (d) Base Shear of the Pier; with Qd/W for Various Values of Post Yield Time
Period (T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake, PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1)
Vol. 12, No. 3 / May 2008
base shears and deck acceleration first decreases attains the
minimum value and then increases with the increase in Qd/W ratio.
This implies that there exists a particular value of Qd/W ratio for
which the deck acceleration and pier base shear attains the
minimum value.
The minimum values of MID, deck absolute displacement and
pier base shear occur in the range of 0.05 to 0.10 for the
earthquakes with PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1. Fig. 6 illustrates the
results for San Fernando Earthquake (PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1). It is
clear that MID have minimum value for Qd/W ratio in the range
of 0.03 to 0.06 and after that it becomes almost constant.
However MIF, pier base shear and deck acceleration increases
with the increase of Qd/W ratio. Close examination of the Figs. 3,
4, and 6 reveal that for the ground motions with large PGA/PGV
values, the MIDs are almost same regardless the Qd/W ratio. For
example, for ground motions with PGA/PGV ratio of 15.48 sec1
and Td = 2.5 sec, the MIDs are 1.385, 1.476, 1.450, 1.453 and
1.454 cm for Qd/W ratio of 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12 and 0.15
respectively. However, for the same ground motion the MIFs are
216, 255, 315, 334 and 367 KN respectively. Thus, for bridge
structures located at the sites associated with large PGA/PGV
values ground motions, isolators with low Qd/W ratio may be
used to minimize the forces transferred to the substructures while
retaining the MIDs within reasonable range.
3.3.3 Effect of Post Yield Time Period, Td and Post Yield
Stiffness, Kd on the Response of LRB Isolated Bridge
Figs. 6 and 7 show the variations of MIF, MID, deck
acceleration and pier base shear with post yield time period Td to
 191 
 Asif Hameed, Min-Se Koo, Thang Dai Do, and Jin-Hoon Jeong

study the effects of bearing flexibility for different Qd/W ratio.
Like the previous subsection the results of the analysis for
earthquakes with PGA/PGV< 7.5 sec1 are alike, while the earth-
quake with PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1 have similar trend. Therefore
for brevity only the results of T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake
(PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1) and San Fernando Earthquake (discussed
here. PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1) are presented and discussed here.
Fig. 7 shows the results for T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake. It
is clear that the MIF, MID, pier base shears and deck acceleration
first increases then decreases, attains the minimum value and

Fig. 6. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; (c) Deck Acceleration; (d) Base Shear of the Pier; with Qd/W for Various Values of Post Yield Time
Period (San Fernando Earthquake, PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1)

Fig. 7. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; (c) Deck Acceleration; (d) Base Shear of the Pier; with Post Yield Time Period Td, for Various Val-
ues of Qd/W (T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake, PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1)

 192  KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering

 Effect of Lead Rubber Bearing Characteristics on the Response of Seismic-isolated Bridges

Fig. 8. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; (c) Deck acceleration; (d) Base Shear of the Pier; with Post Yield Time Period Td, for Various Values of Qd/
W (San Fernando Earthquake, PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1)

then again increases with the increase of Td. This means that
there exists a particular value of Td for which the MID, MIF,
deck acceleration and pier base shear attains the minimum
values. The minimum values of MID, MIF, deck absolute
displacement, and pier base shear occur in the range of 2.5 to 3.0
sec for the earthquakes with PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1. The results of
the analysis for San Fernando Earthquake are shown in the Fig.
8. The earthquakes with PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1 have similar
results however the minimum values of MID, MIF, deck
absolute displacement, and pier base shear occur in the range of
2.0 to 2.5 sec for such earthquakes.
For the 30 cases’ parametric matrix in Table 1, the variations
of MID and MIF with Qd/W and Td is represented simul-
taneously by surface graphs. Figs. 9 and 10 show the variations
of MID and MIF with two variables i.e., post yield time period
Td and Qd/W for T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake (PGA/
PGV<7.5 sec1) and San Fernando Earthquake (PGA/PGV>7.5
sec1) respectively.
3.3.4 Effect of Elastic Stiffness to Post Yield Stiffness ratio,
Ku/Kd on the Response of LRB Isolated Bridge
The effect of the elastic stiffness to post elastic stiffness ratio,

Fig. 9. Variation of MID with Post Yield Time Period Td, and Qd/W Ratio for (a) T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake, PGA/PGV< 7.5 sec1; (b)
San Fernando Earthquake, PGA/PGV> 7.5 sec1

Vol. 12, No. 3 / May 2008  193 

 Asif Hameed, Min-Se Koo, Thang Dai Do, and Jin-Hoon Jeong

Fig. 10. Variation of MIF with Post Yield Time Period Td, and Qd/W Ratio for (a) T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake, PGA/PGV< 7.5 sec1; (b)
San Fernando Earthquake, PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1

Fig. 11. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; (c) Deck Acceleration; (d) Base Shear of the Pier; with Post Yield Time Period Td, for Various Val-
ues of Ku/Kd (T2-III-3 Hyougoken Earthquake, PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1)

Ku/Kd of the LRB isolator on the performance of bridge
structure is studied by varying the elastic stiffness of the isolator
(over the range of most favorable values as found in the
previous sections i.e., Td = 2.5 to 3.0 sec, Qd/W = 0.05 to 0.10 for
earthquakes PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1 and Td = 2.0 to 2.5 sec, Qd/
W = 0.03 to 0.06 for earthquakes PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1) while
keeping its post-elastic stiffness, post yield time period Td, and
characteristic strength Qd/W as constant. Figs. 11 and 12 show
the variation of the MID and MIF for Hyoungoken and San
Fernando earthquakes. It is clear that the MID decreases with
the increase in Ku/Kd ratio and then it become almost constant.
The reduction in the MID is due to the reason that with the
increase in Ku/Kd ratio the isolation system becomes relative
stiff, as a result the bearing displacements, are reduced.
However the MIF first decreases, attains the minimum value
and then increases with the increase in Ku/Kd ratio. This means
that there exists a particular value of Ku/Kd ratio for which MIF
attains the minimum value. The minimum values of MIF occurs
in the range of Ku/Kd ratio from 8 to 10 for the earthquakes with
PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1 and Ku/Kd ratio of 6 to 8 for earthquakes
with PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1.
4. Conclusions
Analytical seismic response of the LRB isolated bridge is
investigated under different ground motion characteristics. The

 194  KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering

 Effect of Lead Rubber Bearing Characteristics on the Response of Seismic-isolated Bridges
Fig. 12. Variation of (a) MID; (b) MIF; (c) Deck Acceleration; (d) Base Shear of the Pier; with Post Yield Time Period Td, for Various Val-
ues of Qd/W (San Fernando Earthquake, PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1)
intention was to seek out the most favorable parameters of the
LRB for minimum earthquake response of the isolated bridge
system for different ground motions. The performance of seismic
isolated bridge is measured by the variation of MID, MIF, deck
acceleration and pier base shear. For a specified ground motion,
smaller MID and MIF are considered as indicative of better
seismic performance. As it is impossible to find the optimal
values of yield strength, post yield time period and elastic to post
yield stiffness ratio for different LRB systems, because these
values depend on various design conditions such as structure
type, ground motion characteristics and soil type. It is however
possible to recommend the appropriate ranges of yield strength,
post yield time period and elastic to post yield stiffness ratio,
which are useful for the design engineers at the preliminary
design stage of the seismic isolated bridges with LRB isolators.
Based on the results obtained from the analyses, conclusions and
recommendations made are:
1. Ground motions with low PGA/PGV ratio have large MIF and
MID, while the ground motions with high PGA/PGV ratios
have small MID and MIF. The reason is that records with high
PGA/PGV ratios are normally associated with low to moderate
earthquakes with high frequency contents and irregular accel-
eration pulses, which load and unload the isolated bridge in
short time intervals. As a result, the MIF and MID are smaller
for ground motions with high PGA/PGV ratios.
2. The MIF increases while the MID decreases with the increase
in Qd/W ratios. The reduction in the MID is due to the reason
that with the increase in Qd/W ratio the isolation system becomes
Vol. 12, No. 3 / May 2008
relative stiff, as a result the bearing displacements, are
reduced. However the pier base shears and deck acceleration
first decreases, attain the minimum value and then increases
with the increase in Qd/W ratio.
3. The minimum values of MID, deck absolute displacement, and
pier base shear occur in the range of Qd/W = 0.05 to 0.10 for
the earthquakes with PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1 and Qd/W = 0.03 to
0.06 for the earthquakes with PGA/PGV>7.5 sec1.
4. For bridge structures located at the sites associated with large
PGA/PGV values ground motions, isolators with low Qd/W
ratio may be used to minimize the forces transferred to the sub-
structures while retaining the MIDs within reasonable range.
5. The minimum values of MID, MIF, deck absolute displace-
ment, and pier base shear occur in the range of, Td = 2.5 to 3.0
sec for the earthquakes with PGA/PGV<7.5 sec1 and in the
range of, Td = 2.0 to 2.5 sec for earthquakes with PGA/PGV>
7.5 sec1.
6. The MID decreases with the increase in Ku/Kd ratio and then it
become almost constant. However the MIF first decreases,
attains the minimum value and then increases with the increase
in Ku/Kd ratio. The minimum values of MIF, occurs in the range
of Ku/Kd ratio from 8 to 10 for the earthquakes with PGA/
PGV<7.5 sec1 and 6 to 8 for earthquakes with PGA/PGV>7.5
sec1.
References
AASHTO (1999). Guide Specifications for sEismic Isolation Design,
 195 
 Asif Hameed, Min-Se Koo, Thang Dai Do, and Jin-Hoon Jeong
Washington DC: American Association of State Highway Officials.
ASCE (1998). Evaluation Findings for Skellerup Base Isolation
Elastomeric Bearings, Technical Evaluation Report, (CERF Report:
HITEC 98-12), prepared by the Highway Innovative Technology
Evaluation Center.
Ali, H.M. and Abdel-Ghaffar, A.M. (1995), “Modeling of rubber and lead
passive-control bearings for seismic analysis.” Journal of Structural
Engineering, Vol. 121, No. 7, pp. 1134-1144.
Buckle, I.G. and Mayes, R.L. (1990). “Seismic isolation: history, ap-
plication and performance - A world overview.” Earthquake Spectra,
Vol. 6, pp. 161-202.
Chopra, A.K. (2001). “Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications
to Earthquake Engineering.” Wiley: New Jersey, U.S.A. pp. 288–295.
Dicleli, M. and Bruneau, M. (1995). “An energy approach to sliding of
single-span simply supported slab-on-girder steel highway bridges
with damaged bearings.” Earthquake Engineering and Structural
Dynamics, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 395-409.
Fragiacomo, M., Rajgelj, S., and Cimadom, F. (2003). “Design of
bilinear hysteretic isolation systems.” Earthquake Engineering and
Structural Dynamics, Vol. 32, No. 9, pp. 1333-1352.
Heidebrecht, A.C. and Lu, C.Y. (1988). “Evaluation of the seismic
response factor introduced in the 1985 edition of the national
building code of Canada.” Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering,
Vol. 15, pp. 382-338.
Jangid, R.S. (2006). “Optimum lead-rubber bearings for near-fault
motions.” Engineering Structures, Vol. 29, No. 10, pp. 2503-2513.
Jerome, J. C. (2002). Introduction to Structural Motion Control,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pearson Education, Inc.,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458.
Kelly, J.M. (1986). “Asesmic base isolation: A review and bibliography.”
Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 5, pp. 202-216.
Kelly, J.M. and Hodder, S.B. (1982). “Experimental study of lead and
 196 
View publication stats
elastomeric dampers for base isolation system in laminated neo-
prene bearings.” Bulletin of New Zealand National Society for
Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 15, pp. 53-67.
Kunde, M.C. and Jangid, R.S. (2003). “Seismic behavior of isolated
bridges: A state-of-the-art review.” Electronic Journal of Structural
Engineering, Australia, Vol. 3, pp. 140-170.
Naeim, F. and Kelly, J. M. (1999). Design of Seismic Isolated
Structures: From Theory to Practice, Wiley, Chichester, England.
Nove, N. (2007). “Representative ensembles of strong earthquake
records.” The Canadian Association for Earthquake Engineering
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
Oh, S. T. and Kim, Y. S. (1998). “Experimental and analytical investigation
of a seismically isolated bridge model with friction pendulum system.”
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 265-272.
Park, J. and Otsuka, H. (1999). “Optimal yield level of bilinear seismic
isolation devices.” Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics,
Vol. 28, pp. 941-955.
Park, K.S., Jung, H.J., and Lee, I.W., (2002) “A comparative study on
aseismic performances of base isolation systems for multi-span
continuous bridge.” Engineering Structures, Vol. 24, No. 8, pp. 1001-
1013.
Skinner, R. I., Robinson, W. H., and McVerry, G. H. (1993). An Intro-
duction to Seismic Isolation, Wiley, Chichester, England.
Warn, C.P. and Whittaker, A.S. (2004). “Performance estimates in
seismically isolated bridge structures.” Engineering Structures, Vol.
26, No. 9, pp. 1261–1278.
Zhou, F.L., Kelly, J.M., Fuller, K.N.G., and Pan, T.C. (1992). “Optimal
design of seismic isolation for multistoried buildings.” Proceedings of
the World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Madrid, Spain.
Zhu, T.J., Tso, W.K., and Heidebrecht, A.C. (1988). “Effect of peak
ground A/V ratio on structural damage.” Journal of Structural
Engineering, Vol. 114, pp. 1019–1037.
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering