Evaluation of Ductility for Bridge Piers Retrofitted by Stainless Steel Wire Mesh

스테인레스 스틸 와이어 메쉬 보강에 따른 교각의 연성능력 평가

The objective of this study is to investigate the seismic capacity of the non-seismically detailed RC bridge piers before and after applying a seismic retrofitting method using stainless steel wire mesh. Total nine circular section RC piers were constructed. Different lap splice longitudinal reinforcement details were adapted for four specimens and various types of stainless steel wire mesh were applied for the remaining five specimens. Harmonic cyclic lateral load was applied on each specimen under a constant axial load. The test results indicated that the existing circular piers have low seismic capacity while the stainless steel wire mesh retrofitting method improves the seismic capacity considerably. In addition, test results revealed that the circular section piers could have a considerable amount of ductility if longitudinal bars are not lap-spliced in potential plastic hinge zone. Based on this experimental study it could be concluded that the seismic performance, that is ductility and energy absorption capacity, of the non-seismically detailed RC bridge piers would be increased by applying the stainless steel wire mesh seismic retrofitting method.