Bridge seismic response as a function of the Friction Pendulum System (FPS) modeling assumptions

Friction Pendulum Systems (FPS) are seismic isolation bearings that have been used as a means of bridge retrofit in numerous cases around the world. To assess their impact on bridge performance, models are needed to capture the intricate behavior of these highly nonlinear elements. In this paper, a new model for the FPS that can represent the variation of the normal force and friction coefficient, bi-directional coupling and large deformation effects during nonlinear dynamic analyses is presented. The paper also examines the effect of modeling parameters on the response of a three dimensional multi-span continuous (MSC) steel girder bridge model seismically isolated with the FPS. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.