• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.545-566
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• 2009

Bridge columns are subjected to combined actions of axial force, shear force and bending moment during earthquakes, caused by spatially-complex earthquake motions, features of structural configurations and the interaction between input and response characteristics. Combined actions can have significant effects on the force and deformation capacity of RC columns, resulting in unexpected large deformations and extensive damage that in turn influences the performance of bridges as vital components of transportation systems. This paper evaluates the seismic response of three prototype reinforced concrete bridges using comprehensive numerical models that are capable of simulating the complex soil-structural interaction effects and nonlinear behavior of columns. An analytical approach that can capture the shear-flexural interacting behavior is developed to model the realistic nonlinear behavior of RC columns, including the pinching behavior, strength deterioration and stiffness softening due to combined actions of shear force, axial force and bending moment. Seismic response analyses were conducted on the prototype bridges under suites of ground motions. Response quantities of bridges (e.g., drift, acceleration, section force and section moment etc.) are compared and evaluated to identify the effects of vertical motion, structural characteristics and the shear-flexural interaction on seismic demand of bridges.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.591-594
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• 2004

Recently, a tendency for development of seismic approach of foreign countries is capacity design development. Capacity design is rational seismic design concept of capacity protection considering not only earthquake magnitude, but also behavior of structure. For that reason, the most bridge seismic design specifications contain capacity protection provisions explicitly or implicitly. The capacity protection is normally related with slenderness effect of the columns, force transfer in connections between columns and adjacent elements, and shear design of columns. It intends to prevent brittle failure of the structural components of bridges, so that the whole bridge system may show ductile behavior and failure during earthquake events. The objectives of this paper are to deduce needed provisions for the moderate seismicity regions such as Korea after studying current seismic design codes and to establish rational criteria provisions of seismic design for future revision of seismic design specifications.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.251-269
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• 2014

To investigate the seismic performance and to obtain quantitative parameters for the requirement of performance-based bridge seismic design approach, 12 reinforced concrete (RC) hollow rectangular bridge column specimens were tested under constant axial load and cyclic bending. Parametric study is carried out on axial load ratio, aspect ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and transverse reinforcement ratio. The damage states of these column specimens were related to engineering limit states to determine the quantitative criteria of performance-based bridge seismic design. The hysteretic behavior of bridge column specimens was simulated based on the fiber model in OpenSees program and the results of the force-displacement hysteretic curves were well agreed with the experimental results. The damage states of residual cracking, cover spalling, and core crushing could be well related to engineering limit states, such as longitudinal tensile strains of reinforcement or compressive strains of concrete, etc. using cumulative probability curves. The ductility coefficient varying from 3.71 to 8.29, and the equivalent viscous damping ratio varying from 0.19 to 0.31 could meet the requirements of seismic design.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.258-265
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• 2002

The recent earthquakes in worldwide have caused extensive damage to highway bridge structures. In particular, it has been demonstrated that concrete columns with inadequate lateral reinforcement contributed to the catastrophic collapse of many bridges. The poor detailing of the starter bars in these columns compounded the problem of seismic deficiency. Therefore, this study has been performed to verify the effect of lap spliced longitudinal steel and confinement steel type for the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete bridge piers. Eight concrete columns were constructed with existing scale as diameter, 1.2m and height, 4.8m. 4 confinement steel types were adopted for seismic performance evaluation. All specimens were rested under inelastic cyclic loading while simultaneously subjected to a constant axial load. The longitudinal steel lap-splice is highly effective in seismic performance deterioration of reinforced concrete bridge piers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.241-260
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• 2002

The effect of shear coupled with axial force variation on the inelastic seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete bridge piers is investigated in this paper. For this purpose, a hysteretic axial-shear interaction model was developed and implemented in a nonlinear finite element analysis program. Thus, flexure-shear-axial interaction is simulated under variable amplitude reversed actions. Comparative studies for shear-dominated reinforced concrete columns indicated that a conventional FE model based on flexure-axial interaction only gave wholly inadequate results and was therefore incapable of predicting the behaviour of such members. Analysis of a reinforced concrete bridge damaged during the Northridge (California 1994) earthquake demonstrated the importance of shear modelling. The contribution of shear deformation to total displacement was considerable, leading to increased ductility demand. Moreover, the effect of shear with axial force variation can significantly affect strength, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of reinforced concrete members. It is concluded that flexure-shear-axial interaction should be taken into account in assessing the behaviour of reinforced concrete bridge columns, especially in the presence of high vertical ground motion.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.201-212
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• 2014

The plastic hinge region of RC pier ensures its nonlinear behavior during strong earthquake events. It is assumed that the piers secure sufficient strength and ductility in order to prevent the collapse of the bridge during strong earthquake. However, the presence of a lap-splice of longitudinal bars in the plastic hinge region may lead to the occurrence of early bond failure in the lap-splice zone and result in significant loss of the seismic performance. The current regulations for seismic performance evaluation limit the ultimate strain and displacement ductility considering the eventual presence of lap-splice, but do not consider the lap-splice length. In this study, seismic performance test and analysis are performed according to the cross-sectional size and the lap-splice length in the case of longitudinal bars with lap-splice located in the plastic hinge region of existing RC bridge columns with circular cross-section. The seismic behavioral characteristics of the piers are also analyzed. Based upon the results, this paper presents a more reasonable seismic performance evaluation method considering the lap-splice length and the cross-sectional size of the column.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.452-457
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• 2000

This research aims at evaluating the seismic performance of the existing R/C bridge piers, which were seismically designed in accordance with the provision of moderate confinement design code (Eurocode 8). The work presented in this paper experimentally investigates the ductility and hysteretic behavior of circular reinforced concrete columns with moderate confinement. Pseudo-dynamic tests have been carried out on two scaled R/C column specimens to investigate their hysteretic behavior and other seismic performance.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.539-561
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• 2017

In this study, the effects of initial damage of concrete columns on the post-repair performance of reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite are investigated experimentally. Four kinds of compression-damaged RC cylinders were reinforced using external CFRP composite wraps, and the stress-strain behavior of the composite/concrete system was investigated. These concrete cylinders were compressed to four pre-damaged states including low -level, medium -level, high -level and total damage states. The percentages of the stress levels of pre-damage were, respectively, 40, 60, 80, and 100% of that of the control RC cylinder. These damaged concrete cylinders simulate bridge piers or building columns subjected to different magnitudes of stress, or at various stages in long-term behavior. Experimental data, as well as a stress-strain model proposed for the behavior of damaged and undamaged concrete strengthened by external CFRP composite sheets are presented. The experimental data shows that external confinement of concrete by CFRP composite wrap significantly improves both compressive strength and ductility of concrete, though the improvement is inversely proportional to the initial degree of damage to the concrete. The failure modes of the composite/damaged concrete systems were examined to evaluate the benefit of this reinforcing methodology. Results predicted by the model showed very good agreement with those of the current experimental program.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.5 s.45
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• pp.63-74
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to assess the seismic performance of reinforced concrete bridge columns using inelastic finite element analysis. The accuracy and objectivity of the assessment process may be enhanced by the use of sophisticated nonlinear finite element analysis program. A computer program, named RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), for the analysis of reinforced concrete structures was used. Damage index aims to provide a means of quantifying numerically the damage in reinforced concrete bridge columns sustained under earthquake loading. The proposed numerical method for the seismic performance assessment of reinforced concrete bridge columns is verified by comparison with reliable experimental results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.501-520
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• 2015

Presence of torsional loadings can significantly affect the flow of internal forces and deformation capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) columns. It increases the possibility of brittle shear failure leading to catastrophic collapse of structural members. This necessitates accurate prediction of the torsional behaviour of RC members for their safe design. However, a review of previously published studies indicates that the torsional behaviour of RC members has not been studied in as much depth as the behaviour under flexure and shear in spite of its frequent occurrence in bridge columns. Very few analytical models are available to predict the response of RC members under torsional loads. Softened truss model (STM) developed in the University of Houston is one of them, which is widely used for this purpose. The present study shows that STM prediction is not sufficiently accurate particularly in the post cracking region when compared to test results. An improved analytical model for RC square columns subjected to torsion with and without axial compression is developed. Since concrete is weak in tension, its contribution to torsional capacity of RC members was neglected in the original STM. The present investigation revealed that, disregard to tensile strength of concrete is the main reason behind the discrepancies in the STM predictions. The existing STM is extended in this paper to include the effect of tension stiffening for better prediction of behaviour of square RC columns under torsion. Three different tension stiffening models comprising a linear, a quadratic and an exponential relationship have been considered in this study. The predictions of these models are validated through comparison with test data on local and global behaviour. It was observed that tension stiffening has significant influence on torsional behaviour of square RC members. The exponential and parabolic tension stiffening models were found to yield the most accurate predictions.