Enhancing seismic resilience of elevated industrial silos: development and validation of a novel natural rubber bearing with U-shaped dampers

Elevated EVA degassing silos in the photovoltaic industry are seismically vulnerable owing to their high center of gravity and large mass, yet no existing retrofit scheme combines high energy dissipation with easy installation. This study proposes NRB-UDs, a top isolation system integrating natural rubber bearings with bidirectional U-shaped steel dampers, and verifies it from material to system level. A six-parameter Ogden hyperelastic model for rubber was calibrated using four material characterization tests, and a refined finite element model of the dampers was built on an experimentally validated combined hardening steel model. Results show that the yielding U-shaped dampers provide high additional damping ratios, offsetting the low inherent damping of rubber bearings, while full, stable hysteresis loops under varied loading directions confirm reliable bidirectional energy dissipation. Mechanical properties can be tuned by adjusting damper thickness and height, supporting the seismic resilience of elevated silos and similar industrial structures.