Evaluation for Mechanical Properties of Laminated Rubber Bearings Using Finite Element Analysis

In this paper, improvements of evaluation method for mechanical properties of rubber materials and isolated rubber bearings are shown. The displacement/pressure mixed method of hyperelastic material considering the viscoelastic effect, compressibility and the softening effect for high damping rubber is formulated in the first place. Also, simple numerical model of the high damping rubber is proposed from experimental results. Mechanical properties of both high damping and natural rubber are calculated by developed finite element code. Next, an evaluation methods for mechanical properties (horizontal, vertical and horizontal-vertical coupled properties) of the natural rubber bearings is shown.