Q. What do you mean by Plain elastomeric pads?
Plain pads are used for light or moderate loadings. Plain pads have a tendency to bulge under heavy loadings. In order to reduce the tendency of bulging, the elastomer pads are reinforced with steel plates. The steel sheets separating the layers of elastomer are completely encased within the elastomeric material. For vertical load, each layer of elastomer behaves like an individual pad, while horizontal strain on each layer is additive. Therefore, adding steel laminations is a convient way to accommodate larger lateral movements for the same compressive loads. Fibre reinforced pads are usually reinforced with fibre glass.