Finite-element analysis of laminated rubber bearing of building frame under seismic excitation

Finite element analysis is carried out for a building frame supported by laminated rubber bearings to simultaneously investigate global displacement and local stress responses under seismic excitation. The frame members and the rubber bearings are discretized into hexahedral solid elements with more than 3 million degrees of freedom. The material property of rubber is represented by the Ogden model, and the frame is assumed to remain in elastic range. It is shown that the time histories of non-uniform stress distribution and rocking behavior of the rubber bearings under a frame subjected to seismic excitation can be successfully evaluated, and detailed responses of base and frame can be evaluated through large-scale finite element analysis. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.