Study on Compression Fatigue of Rubber Bearings Used in Low Temperature Environment

Rubber bearings for bridges are important attachments connecting superstructure and substructure of bridges, and grasp of durability performance is very important. Deterioration (fatigue) due to external forces is a non-negligible task in bridge member that require long-term durability, but there is no research report on deterioration (fatigue) of rubber bearings in low temperature environments. So we conducted a field survey on damage and conducted a fatigue test at low temperature. In the field survey, it was found that the influence of low temperature on resistance to fatigue deterioration and mechanical properties etc of rubber bearings cannot be denied. Moreover, from the results of the compression fatigue test in the low temperature condition, it was found that the low temperature environment affects the vertical support characteristics of the rubber bearing.