C O N S T R U C T I O N
Heavy duty concrete-to-concrete vertical bearing pads are designed for vertical
column applications in multi-story buildings and infrastructure
VERTICAL COLUMN BEARING PADS
ENGINEERED FOR LONG-TERM FLOOR SLAB STRESS PROTECTION
New vertical bearing pads are being introduced
by Hercules Engineering for use on column
applications where multi-story buildings may
be subject to minute but potential damaging
movement affecting the vertical pile caps and
floor slabs.
The latest Hercules HDSJ slip bearings are custom
engineered for commercial, industrial and
large-scale residential buildings constructed in
situations where long-term shear movement
must be safeguarded against, through enhanced
control of shear forces, to prevent the possibility
of issues such as floor slab cracking over time.
The concrete-to-concrete heavy-duty bearings
– available throughout Australasia and the Asia
Pacific – have been developed in response
to requests for cost-efficient highly effective
responses to unusual architectural, structural,
seismic, vibration and site other requirements,
including, potentially, coastal and inland land reclamations
or areas where sites are being adapted
to new uses.
These newest split bearings are partially cast-inplace
additions to Hercules Engineering’s long-established
HLMD bearing ranges feature stainless
steel slide plates factory bonded pure grade
PTFE with Hercupad and Styrofoam spacers.
The Hercupad is recessed into place on floor
slab faces, where they interface with stainless
steel plates similarly permanently recessed into
matching positions on the pile cap. The pile cap
plates, locked in place by heavy duty stainless
steel bolting, are integrated into the slab as it is
poured against the stainless steel plates.
The split bearing structure, with its partially castin
place bearing pads, is installed in place for the
life of the structure involved, where it provides
a long-term low static coefficient of friction that
is virtually equal to kinetic coefficient of friction,
says the manager of Hercules Engineering, David
Booty. The bearings, with minimal stick slip effect,
are designed to reduce stress on structural
members by making smooth motion possible.
The engineering plastics expertise built into them
is the result of more than 40 years’ experience
in plastics engineering by Cut To Size plastics, of
which Hercules Engineering is a division.
“These split bearing pad designs allow engineers
and specifiers to distribute the load evenly across
the surfaces of structural components. Because
of advances in design of split bearings pads, it
is possible to provide cost-efficient bearings with
large surface areas,” says Booty.
The new bearings can vary in size from current
measurements of 900-1200mm long, but with
further custom-engineered types sized according
to need.
44 July 2018