A laminated magnetorheological elastomer bearing prototype for seismic mitigation of bridge superstructures

In this article, an adaptive magnetorheological elastomer bearing prototype for seismic mitigation of bridge superstructures is designed and manufactured. The magnetorheological elastomer bearing is developed featuring conventional laminated structure in the seismic rubber bearing. Besides, the magnetic circuit design of the laminated magnetorheological elastomer bearing is verified by electromagnetic analysis, and a base-isolated testing system is established to obtain the acceleration transmissibility under various applied currents. The experimental results indicate that the resonance frequency of the integrated system can be tuned from 10 to 20 Hz, and the transmissibility peak value reduces 20.67% simultaneously, for which the proposed bearing can be used for seismic mitigation. Finally, the stiffness and damping of the laminated magnetorheological elastomer bearing integrated vibration mitigation system are identified by the response characteristics.