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LCL's Pot Bearings have
been designed to be very easy to install, maintenance-free and cost-effective.
The product has been successfully used in a broad range of applications
which include: bridges, viaducts, high rise buildings, stadiums and
dams.
LCL's Pot Bearings are designed for
very high vertical, horizontal and lateral loads and where rotational
structural displacements need to be accommodated. The bearings are
grouped into three categories: fixed bearing (restriction of all
movement in planar axis); guided bearing (restriction of movement
in one direction in planar axis); multi-directional bearing (allows
movement in all planes and axes). All three types can be designed
to accommodate uplift loads, often required during construction
or the life of the structure. The bearings are designed to be quickly
and easily replaced due to the structural fastening and attachment
strategy LCL deploys.
A high quality elastomeric disc is tightly confined
between a cylindrical machined plate, called the pot plate, and
a piston plate. Under high pressure the elastomeric disc turns into
its liquid state and acts like a hydraulic fluid which allows the
rotational movement around any horizontal axis. LCL's design enables
very high compression forces to be imparted to the elastomeric disc
and so a physically smaller bearing; an advantage in many bridge
design applications. A neoprene seal is inserted between the pot
and piston plates to prevent dust and debris from entering the assembly.
Bridge movements are accommodated through the combination
of a mirror finished stainless steel plate and a moulded Teflon
(PTFE) sheet, resulting in sliding surfaces that have a very low
coefficient of friction. LCL's design approach is to machine the
pot and piston plates to accommodate the PTFE sheet and in this
way the sheet is mechanically recessed and confined, resulting in
superior mechanical binding. Compared to the traditional method
of surface bonding the PTFE sheet, LCL's design approach guarantees
the integrity of the sliding surface components during the life-time
of the bearing. In addition this strategy also enables the bearing
to accommodate significantly higher loads for its size.
All of LCL-Bridge Pot designs, materials & fabrication
processes can be adapted to client required manufacturing specifications
or codes of practice; for any Country. The bearing is designed to
be maintenance free for the duration of its design life and operate
down to extremely low temperatures, as low as - 40 degrees Centigrade.
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