Analysis of specimen size effects in inclined compression test on laminated elastomeric bearings

Inclined compression test method is a practical way of determining the shear modulus of full-size laminated elastomeric bearings. Performing full-size bearing tests requires high-capacity testing machines. It may be possible to cut the specimens into smaller sizes for testing purposes. Limited amount of experimental data show that specimen size has a significant effect on the measured shear modulus. In this paper, the Haringx shear weak column theory is used to identify the important geometric specimen properties that influence the response. In light of this approximate technique, a parametric study using three-dimensional finite elements with geometric and material nonlinearities were conducted. The findings of the parametric study are given and the development of a correction factor for specimen size is presented. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.