The project is based on three research studies. The first study consists in performing braking tests with heavy vehicles at the bridge Viaduc de Matran. The resulting braking forces are increased step by step until they become comparable to the characteristic braking force, so that the non-linear behavior of the elastomer bridge bearings can be investigated. The forces generated by the vehicles and the dynamic response of the bridge are recorded.
Since the dynamic behavior of the bridge bearings is very important for the dynamic performance of the bridge, in the second study, the behavior of an identical elastomer bearing is investigated experimentally with laboratory tests. The bearings are tested under cyclic loadings at different excitation frequencies and deformation amplitudes and two operating temperatures. In order to capture the behavior of the elastomer bearing outside of the tested operating temperatures, cyclic laboratory tests on elastomer small samples are carried out in a test machine with a climatic chamber.
In the third study, firstly, the measurement data from the tests for the characterization of the elastomeric bearing are used to calibrate a linear and a non-linear model of the elastomeric bearing. In a second step, the models of the elastomer bearing are used to simulate the braking tests at the Viaduc de Matran with bridge models of different complexity. Finally, by comparing the results from the simulation and the braking tests, the limits of the applicability of the individual models are analyzed and the effects on the model for the calculation of the characteristic value of the braking force are evaluated.