Abstract: Based on the explicit finite element (FE) software ANSYS/LS-DYNA, the FE model for a sliding lead rubber bearing (SLRB) is developed. The design parameters of the laminated steel, including thickness, density, and Young’s modulus, are modified to greatly enlarge the time step size of the model. Three types of contact relations in ANSYS/LS-DYNA are employed to analyze all the contact relations existing in the bearing. Then numerical simulations of the compression tests and a series of correlation tests on compression-shear properties for the bearing are conducted, and the numerical results are further verified by experimental and theoretical ones. Results show that the developed FE model is capable of reproducing the vertical stiffness and the particular hysteresis behavior of the bearing. The shear stresses of the intermediate rubber layer obtained from the numerical simulation agree well with the theoretical results. Moreover, it is observed from the numerical simulation that the lead cylinder undergoes plastic deformation even if no additional lateral load is applied, and an extremely large plastic deformation when a shear displacement of 115 mm is applied. Furthermore, compared with the implicit analysis, the computational cost of the explicit analysis is much more acceptable. Therefore, it can be concluded that the proposed modeling method for the SLRB is accurate and practical.

Key words: Explicit analysis; Sliding lead rubber bearing (SLRB); Time step size; Contact relations; Numerical simulation; Experimental verification

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