Performance Analysis of a Cage‐Type Rubber Bearing

A novel cage‐type rubber bearing (CRB) is proposed. This bearing is designed by arranging a circle of U‐shaped low‐yield‐point steel components on the upper and lower sealing plates, based on the conventional laminated rubber bearing, to enhance the stiffness and damping performance of the bearing. In this study, the finite element analysis software ABAQUS was employed to perform a comparative evaluation of the horizontal seismic isolation capabilities between the novel rubber bearing and the lead‐core rubber bearing (LRB). Furthermore, the effects of the cross‐sectional area, number, and cross‐sectional geometry of the U‐shaped low‐yield‐point steel components on the mechanical behavior of the bearing were comprehensively analyzed. The results show that the novel rubber bearing in different working conditions shows proper mechanical properties, and the design is flexible, according to the actual demand, in which the parameters of low‐yield‐point steel components can be adjusted, and then the overall performance of the bearing changes correspondingly. In addition, the novel rubber bearing also has the advantage of environmental protection, avoiding the usage of lead elements in the LRB.