STRUCTURAL BEARINGS

Structural bearings are devices which

provide structural restraints, defined in
Structural Mechanics as “hinge and roller
supports” connecting two different
structural elements.
Used for the purpose of transferring vertical
loads and resisting horizontal thrusts, at the
same time allowing the mutual sliding and
rotation of structural parts, they are mainly
installed on bridges and viaducts between
the deck and the load-bearing substructure
(piers and abutments), but also as supports
for large roofings and buildings. In all these
structures they are vital components for
their proper functioning.
According to the type of restraint they create, they are classified as follows:
• FIXED bearings do not allow for displacements while transferring
the forces in all directions in the horizontal plane;
• GUIDED SLIDING allow for displacement in only one direction in the
(or UNIDIRECTIONAL) horizontal plane, while transferring horizontal forces
bearings in the perpendicular direction;
• FREE SLIDING allow for displacement in all directions in the
(or MULTIDIRECTIONAL) horizontal plane.
bearings

In the movable bearing types, sliding friction is reduced to a minimum by inserted

PTFE in contact with polished stainless steel sheets.
The main types of structural bearings offered by FIP Industriale include:

RUNDFLON
VASOFLON

Pot bearings Spherical PTFE bearings

SFEROFLON CERNOFLON

Circumferentially restrained spherical

Cylindrical PTFE bearings
PTFE bearings

ROCKFLON NEOARM
 Linear steel rocker bearings Reinforced rubber bearings

ELASTOFIP

SPECIAL BEARINGS

Reinforced rubber bearings with steel

plates and/or PTFE sliding surfaces

To date, FIP Industriale have designed,

manufactured and supplied more than
200.000 bearings for structures all over
the world.
Our engineers’ and technicians’
experience is available to designers and
contractors for an optimum choice of
structural systems and bearing types
according to the applicable technical
standards, characteristics of the structure,
construction methods and entity of the
given loads.
Specific Inspection and Maintenance manuals prepared for FIP’s clients, assist
bridge managers in performing the regular and extraordinary inspection checks of
the installed bearings, which are of great importance for the durability of
structures.

ELASTOFIP
The ELASTOFIP series is a line of structural bearings comprising a reinforced
elastomer pad containing several layers of hot-vulcanized steel laminates. The
base of the pad generally has a hot vulcanized steel plate, while the upper side
has a dimpled PTFE sheet recessed into a steel plate or an etched PTFE sheet
directly hot-vulcanized to the rubber (absent in the fixed type bearings).
Horizontal sliding movement is
achieved by coupling the PTFE with a
stainless steel sheet fixed to an
additional steel plate, whilst rotations
around any axis are permitted by the
deformation of the rubber.
The guided sliding types can include a single internal guide or a pair of external
guides in the event that one wishes to avoid shear stresses to the reinforced
elastomer pad.
 These bearings are very easily installed,
resistant to atmospheric agents and do not
require any particular type of maintenance.
The use of ELASTOFIP bearings is generally
selected for bridges with span lengths that do
not exceed 20 m or for roofings, when
rotations and horizontal forces are not
excessive.

The reinforced rubber pad can be made in special large dimensions up to

1250x1250 mm plane size and 431 mm thickness.

Note: Side-by-side installation of two or more bearings in the longitudinal

direction of the beam as well as coupling bearings of different shape
factor or hardness must be avoided.

ELASTOFIP bearings are classified by two letters followed by three groups of

numbers that have the following meaning:

= Fixed Elastofip Bearing

EF
= Longitudinally guided sliding Elastofip Bearing
EU
= Transversally guided sliding Elastofip Bearing
EU*
= Free sliding Elastofip Bearing
EM

The first group of numbers represents the vertical load in kN/10 (tons).
The second group represents the displacement in millimeters (EU, EM) or the
longitudinal load in kN/10 (EU*, EF).
The third group represents the transverse displacement in millimeters (EU*, EM)
or the trasverse load in kN/10 (EU, EF).

Examples:

EF 175-10-20 Fixed Elastofip bearing of 1750 kN vertical load that resists

longitudinal horizontal loads of 100 kN and tranverse
horizontal loads of 200 kN.

EM 900/300/50 Free sliding Elastofip bearing of 9000 kN vertical load that

permits longitudinal displacements of ± 150 mm and
transverse displacements of ± 25 mm.