Effects of friction pendulum bearing wear on seismic performance of long-span continuous girder bridge

Abstract

To clear the wear effect of friction pendulum bearings (FPBs) on the seismic performance of multiple long-span continuous girder bridges, the rapid sliding performance test of the FPBs was carried out to get the wear degree of the modified poly tetra fluoroethylene (PTFE) wear plates. Taking a 6×110 m long-span continuous girder bridge as the engineering background, the seismic response of the bridge with different wear degrees of the FPBs was analyzed. The results show that the modified PTFE wear plate of the FPBs was severely worn in the rapid sliding performance test, and the friction coefficient was first increased to 0.09 and then decreased to 0.016. When the maximum displacement was reached, the bearing collided with the limitation block. Moreover, the internal forces of the critical pier were increased, and the bottom of the piers entered plasticity due to the wear of the FPBs. Due to the change in the seismic performance of the bridge, it is suggested that the rapid sliding performance of FPBs should be tested to ensure the structure safety of the long-span continuous girder bridge in rare earthquakes.