Application of Wire Gauze as a Green and Cost Saving Approach for Seismic Bearing Design

摘要

The base isolation method using seismic natural rubber bearings has been successfully used to protect structures from earthquakes. This technology not only protects the structures but also its contents and is therefore significant for critical buildings such as hospitals and emergency centres. However, the current design of the seismic rubber bearings require a huge quantity of steel plates which could account for up to 60% of the production cost. In this paper a study on the use of wire gauze which is economically viable in comparison to steel plates is described. The use of steel wire gauze could also obviate the application of adhesives that are required to bond steel plates to the rubber and this could also reduce the cost. Important parameters such as shear and vertical stiffness as well as damping of scaled-down wire-gauze-reinforced-bearings were investigated. The results are compared with the normal steel-plate-laminated bearings and with that obtained from finite element analysis.