Seismic performance of a novel 3D isolation system on continuous bridges

Remarkable vertical seismic motion is one of the prominent characteristics of the near-fault earthquake motions, but the traditional and widely used base isolation system only can effectively mitigate horizontal seismic responses and structural damage. A promising three-dimensional (3D) seismic isolation bearing, consisting of laminated rubber bearing with lead core (LRB) and combined coned disc spring with vertical energy dissipation device (e.g., inner fluid viscous cylindric damper or steel damper), was proposed to mitigate horizontal and vertical structural seismic responses simultaneously and separately. Three-group seismic ground motion records were selected to validate the effectiveness of the proposed 3D seismic isolation bearing on a continuous slab bridge. The appropriate damping of the vertical damping device was presented by parametric study. The analyses results showed that the proposed 3D isolation bearing is essentially effective to mitigate vertical and horizontal structural seismic response simultaneously. Near-fault pulse-type seismic motions should be considered in seismic isolation design and evaluation. The proper damping ratio of the vertical damping device should be 20%-30% for favorable vertical isolation effectiveness. The proposed 3D seismic isolation bearing is promising to be applied to the mediate-to-short span bridge and even some building structures.