Variation of the vertical stiffness of strip-shaped fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators under lateral loading

A fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolator (FREI) is a relatively new type of isolator that utilizes fiber material for the reinforcing layers. FREIs can be installed in a bonded or unbonded application. In this study, finite element analysis (FEA) is carried out on bonded and unbonded strip-shaped FREIs to investigate the variation in vertical stiffness as the isolator undergoes lateral displacement. The vertical stiffness of the isolators under …