Seismic Behavior of Bridges with Sacrificial Energy-dissipating Devices

회생개념의 에너지소산장치의 적용에 따른 교량의 내진성능평가

Various types of dampers are widely adopted to reduce the seismic damages in bridges. However, dampers may be the improper solution especially in moderate seismic regions because dampers are costly for installation and require constant maintenance during life cycle. In this study, energy-dissipating sacrificial device is proposed, which sacrifices easily substitutable bridge members and dissipates the excessive energy during seismic excitations. In turns, the inelastic behavior of sacrificial members reduces the input energy of the major members, such as piers in bridges, and may prevent the major members from serious malfunction. A simplified mechanical model is developed to represent the behavior of sacrificial devices installed in a bridge. The hysteresis energy of piers is analyzed to certify performance of device under seismic loads applied to this mechanical model. The results from this study show that the proposed sacrificial energy-dissipating device can decrease excessive hysteresis energy and reduce the damage of piers under seismic excitation. Therefore, economical enhancement of the seismic performance of bridges may be possible by employing the proposed sacrificial energy-dissipating devices.