BRIDGE BEARING

About BRIDGE BEARING

Bridge pads made of butyl, chlorobutanol, and neoprene are elastomeric and have dimensions of 6 x 12 x 1 inches. Neoprene was a standard pad for bearings and is generally known as elastomeric bearings. Two is the form factor of the pads. This is higher than the minimum of 1.25 according to industry standards. This indicates how stiff the pad is when it is compressed. The ratio is of the area loaded, that is where the pad is pressed, to the area free to bulge. This formula is in Appendix A. If two elastomeric bearings with the same weight pressed by the same compression area and hardness have more room to bulge, then the higher the room to bulge will be the higher the compressing of the pad.

The elastomeric bridge bearings tested were two levels of hardness: 60 5, based on Shore A hardness; and 70 5. The butyl and neoprene pads met the requirements of specialization (Appendix B). Although the chloro butyl pad had less tensile strength, it is still doing well under load like the butyl and neoprene pads. It means tensile strength alone cannot be used as a predictor for the good performance of elastomeric bearings in bridges or how long the life of elastomeric bearings might be under real-world conditions, which is excellent for their durability in various applications.