The Behavior of Bearings Used for Seismic Isolation under Shear and Axial Load

The investigation described in this paper looked at both laminated elastomeric bearings and lead‐rubber bearings in order to obtain a better understanding of the real bearing behavior under the combined action of shear and axial loads when used in a seismic‐isolation system. In particular, the investigation focused on the distributions of vertical pressure on the bearing faces and the degree of lift‐off of the edges of the bearings as the shearing displacement and the angle of rotation increased.