Shaking table tests of bridge model with friction sliding bearings under bi-directional earthquake excitations

The widespread use of seismic isolation to protect structures from damage has already been proven as an effective and economical method. In order to investigate the seismic performance and isolation effect of isolated bridge with the traditional friction pendulum bearing (FPB) and the novel triple friction pendulum bearing (TFPB), the force-displacement hysteretic relationships of FPB and TFPB were validated by the displacement-controlled tests, and the shaking table tests were carried out on a 1/10 scaled simple-supported bridge model with FPBs and TFPBs under bi-directional earthquake excitations. The effects of the friction coefficients and the radius of the TFPB on the seismic responses were analysed using the extensive experimental results. The experimental data and the numerical results show that the TFPB can be reliably used for the passive device to control the seismic response of the bridge, which could satisfy the demand of performance-based seismic design philosophy in high seismicity regions. In addition, the results illustrate that the bi-directional interaction of the TFPB has effects on the dynamic responses of the bridge. If the bi-directional interaction is ignored, the deck displacements are underestimated, which can be crucial from the design point of view.