Mechanical properties of metallic pseudo rubber-silicon rubber composite for three-way seismic isolation

Abstract

This paper mainly carries out the preliminary work for the design of an innovative three-way seismic isolator based on the metallic pseudo rubber-silicon rubber (MPR-SR) composite. First, the MPR-SR composite was prepared by adding the SR, a high-molecular polymer, to the MPR, and several MPR-SR specimens of different molding densities were prepared. Next, the specimens were subjected to compression and shear tests under quasi-static and dynamic loads, respectively. Several tests were carried out to reflect how these behaviors are affected by load amplitude, cycle count, loading frequency and molding density. The mechanical properties and damping features between the specimens were compared and analyzed in details. On this basis, the author examined the mechanical properties and SI mechanism of the MPR-SR composite. The results show that the MPR-SR composite has good recoverability under compressive and shear deformations: the composite can recover even if 40% of it has been deformed under compression and 80% under shear load; the hysteretic energy dissipation ability of the composite increases with the molding density; the loading frequency and cycle number have basically no impact on the compressive hysteretic behavior of the composite. To sum up, the MPR-SR enjoys good stiffness and energy dissipation ability, and serves as an excellent material for anti-corrosion, antioxidant three-way seismic isolator.