COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN OF POT BEARINGS

Abstract

A user interactive computer software has been developed for the design as well as drafting of the expansion type of pot bearing for bridges: The design have been carried out in accordance with the British Code BS 5400: sectiOn 9.1: 1983 as the Indian Roads Congress specifications are still not available. . Details of the analysis and design procedure have been discussed. To explain the working of the software package a detailed flow chart is given along with the analysis and design. The software has been developed in FORTRAN language and for drafting PLOT88 package has been used. A few examples have been solved to illustrate the potential of the software package. The input data regarding the loads, deformations, rotations and permissible stresses is to be givien through a file. For carrying out the design, however, the screen mode has to be used. This scheme has been adopted to make the software user-interactive, which provides much flexibility to the designer by way of examining and modifying the design at intermediate stages, if required. A comparative study with other bearings (i.e. Roller -cum -Rocker bearings and Rocker bearings with PTFE sliding surface) is also made. It has been found that the Pot bearings are compact and have low height. Moreover, Pot bearings are economical and require no maintenance.