The mechanical behavior of rectangular elastomeric isolation bearings with bidirectional
fiber reinforcing elements is analytically investigated. In contrast to the steelreinforced
isolator, which is usually assumed to be rigid both in extension and in flexure, the
fiber-reinforced isolator is assumed to be flexible in extension and with no stiffness in flexure.
The solution for infinitely long rectangular isolators with in plane isotropic fiber reinforcing
(Kelly 1999) and an original hypothesis on the displacement field are used to find displacements
and stress fields. The compression modulus and the bending modulus are finally evaluated. The
obtained results are then compared with the results obtained via a different approach by Tsai
and Kelly 2002 for rectangular isolators with isotropic fiber reinforcing.
