Rubber bearings are structural support components made from natural rubber or chloroprene rubber through vulcanization molding. Their most notable characteristic lies in utilizing the high elasticity of rubber to accommodate minor displacements and rotational deformations of the superstructure while uniformly transferring loads to the substructure, making them a widely used support solution for small to medium span bridges. Natural rubber types offer excellent mechanical strength and elasticity for bridge projects under conventional climatic conditions, while chloroprene rubber provides favorable weather and ozone resistance, and is commonly used in regions with relatively complex environmental conditions.
In bridge engineering, laminated rubber bearings are typically composed of multiple rubber layers bonded with reinforcing steel plates, offering high vertical stiffness and favorable horizontal flexibility to meet the bearing capacity and deformation requirements of conventional span bridges. PTFE sliding rubber bearings feature an added polytetrafluoroethylene sliding surface to further reduce frictional resistance, making them suitable for bridge spans with larger displacement demands.
Product specifications cover various length, width and thickness combinations, and cross section shapes and load capacity grades can also be customized based on engineering drawings, to match the design requirements of different bridge types, spans and load conditions.
This type of bearing is widely used in small to medium span highway and railway bridges, urban viaducts and ramp bridges, delivering stable long term service performance under normal operating conditions.
