Seismic response of sliding isolated bridges with MR dampers

Response of sliding isolated bridges with smart dampers in near fault earthquake ground motions is evaluated in this study. The smart damper used is a Magnetorheological (MR) damper. A 1:20 scale single span sliding isolated bridge model with four sliding bearings and a MR damper is studied. New sliding mode controller is developed and implemented in real time. Several near fault ground motions recorded in the Northridge earthquake are used in the testing. Shake table test results of the scaled sliding isolated bridge model with MR damper are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the dampers. It is shown that the smart MR dampers can reduce displacements and forces in the piers further than the passive dampers. While these displacement reductions can be achieved by increasing the passive damping further, it can only be done at the expense of greater forces in the piers.