Preliminary design of seismically isolated R/C bridges—features of relevant expert system and experimental testing of elastomeric bearings

Abstract

Seismically isolated R/C bridges is the target of an expert system based on the current design provisions of Eurocode 8, Part 2, which aims to facilitate their preliminary design. The expert system and the developed software includes a series of checks provided by Eurocode 8 (Part 2), in order to ensure the satisfactory seismic “optimum” performance of the selected isolation scheme. In doing so, the software accesses a specially created database of the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of commercially available cylindrical or prismatic elastomeric bearings, that can be easily enriched by relevant data from laboratory tests on isolation devices. The basic assumption included in the software is modeling the seismic response of an isolated bridge as a S.D.O.F. system. The features of this expert system are presented and discussed. Moreover, results from a number of tests are also included, indicative of the quality control procedure, specified by International Standard ISO 22762-1 (2005).