• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2019

In this study, it has been tried to prepare an analytical fragility curves for isolated straight continues highway bridges by considering different spectral intensity measures. A three-span concrete isolated bridge has been selected and the seismic performance of the bridge has been improved by Lead Rubber Bearing (LRB). Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) is applied to the bridge in longitudinal direction. A suite of 14 earthquake ground motions from medium to sever motions are scaled and used for nonlinear time history analysis. Fragility function considers the relationship of earthquake intensity measures (IM) and probability of exceeding certain Damage State (DS). A full three dimensional finite element model of the isolated bridge has been developed and analyzed. A wide range of different intensity measures are selected and the optimal intensity measure which has the less dispersion is proposed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.195-213
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• 2012

This paper presents the investigation of the stochastic responses of seismically isolated bridges subjected to spatially varying earthquake ground motions including incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The incoherence effect is examined by considering Harichandran and Vanmarcke coherency model. The effect of the wave-passage is dealt with various wave velocities in the response analysis. Homogeneous firm, medium and soft soil conditions are selected for considering the site-response effect where the bridge supports are constructed. The ground motion is described by filtered white noise and applied to each support points. For seismic isolation of the bridge, single and double concave friction pendulum bearings are used. Due to presence of friction on the concave surfaces of the isolation systems, the equation of motion of is non-linear. The non-linear equation of motion is solved by using equivalent linearization technique of non-linear stochastic analyses. Solutions obtained from the stochastic analyses of non-isolated and isolated bridges to spatially varying earthquake ground motions compared with each other for the special cases of the ground motion model. It is concluded that friction pendulum systems having single and double concave surfaces have important effects on the stochastic responses of bridges to spatially varying earthquake ground motions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.771-784
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• 2018

This study aims to investigate the stochastic response of isolated and non-isolated highway bridges subjected to spatially varying earthquake ground motion model. This model includes wave passage, incoherence and site response effects. The wave passage effect is examined by using various wave velocities. The incoherency effect is investigated by considering the Harichandran and Vanmarcke coherency model. The site response effect is considered by selecting homogeneous firm, medium and soft soil types where the bridge supports are constructed. The ground motion is described by power spectral density function and applied to each support point. Triple concave friction pendulum (TCFP) bearing which is more effective than other seismic isolation systems is used for seismic isolation. To implement seismic isolation procedure, TCFP bearing devices are placed at each of the support points of the deck. In the analysis, the bridge selected is a five-span featuring cast-in-place concrete box girder superstructure supported on reinforced concrete columns. Foundation supported highway bridge is regarded as three regions and compared its different situation in the stochastic analysis. The stochastic analyses results show that spatially varying ground motion has important effects on the stochastic response of the isolated and non-isolated bridges as long span structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.1451-1465
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• 2016

The effectiveness of base isolation (BI) systems for mitigation of seismic vibration of bridges have been extensively studied in the past. It is well established in those studies that the performance of BI system is largely dependent on the characteristics of isolator yield strength. For optimum design of such systems, normally a standard nonlinear optimization problem is formulated to minimize the maximum response of the structure, referred as Stochastic Structural Optimization (SSO). The SSO of BI system is usually performed with reference to a problem of unconstrained optimization without imposing any restriction on the maximum isolator displacement. In this regard it is important to note that the isolator displacement should not be arbitrarily large to fulfil the serviceability requirements and to avoid the possibility of pounding to the adjacent units. The present study is intended to incorporate the effect of excessive isolator displacement in optimizing BI system to control seismic vibration effect of bridges. In doing so, the necessary stochastic response of the isolated bridge needs to be optimized is obtained in the framework of statistical linearization of the related nonlinear random vibration problem. A simply supported bridge is taken up to elucidate the effect of constraint condition on optimum design and overall performance of the isolated bridge compared to that of obtained by the conventional unconstrained optimization approach.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.109-112
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• 2006

In this study, an approach that installs seismic isolation bearings was proposed for the seismic retrofit of the existing bridges. The method that replaces all existing bearings with seismic isolators was proposed already. However, in this study, we recommend to utilize the existing bearings for the benefit of safety and cost. According to our proposal, the seismic isolators do not support vertical loads but they just function as the period shifter and the horizontal damper. To verify this approach experimentally, the real scale bearings and isolators for the real highway bridges were designed and fabricated. And the responses of this isolated bridges to the assumed earthquakes were determined by the pseudo dynamic test scheme. The test results were also compared to the responses computed by the well known structural analysis software to check the reliability of the test. From the test results, we found that the retrofitted bridges using the proposed method showed stable performances under earthquakes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.803-820
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• 2016

In this study a direct displacement-based design (DDBD) procedure for a continuous deck bridge isolated with triple friction pendulum bearings (TFPB) has been proposed and the seismic demands of the bridge such as isolator's displacement and drift of piers obtained from this procedure evaluated under two-directional near-field ground motions. The structural model used here are continuous, three-span, castin-place concrete box girder bridge with a 30-degree skew which are isolated with 9 different TFPBs. By comparing the results of DDBD method with those of nonlinear time history analysis (NTHA), it can be concluded that the proposed procedure is able to predict seismic demands of similar isolated bridges with acceptable accuracy. Results of NTHA shows that dispersion of peak resultant responses for a group of ground motions increases by increasing their average value of responses. It needs to be noted that the demands parameters calculated by the DDBD procedure are almost overestimated for stiffer soil condition, but there is some underestimation in results of this method for softer soil condition.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2011

The introduction of the Eurocodes makes plastic design criteria available also for composite bridges, leading to more economical solutions compared with previous elastic design rules. Particularly for refurbishment old bridges with higher actual traffic loads, up to date outside the scope of the Eurocodes, strengthening should therefore be avoidable or at least be necessary only to a minor extent. For bridges with smaller spans and compact cross sections, the plastic load bearing capacity is clearly justified. In this work, however, the focus is placed on long span continuous composite bridges with deep, longitudinally stiffened girders, susceptible to local buckling. In a first step, the elastic - plastic cross section capacity of the main girder in bending is studied as an isolated case, based on high preloads acting on the steel girder only, due to the common assembling procedure without scaffolding. In a second step, the effects on the whole structure are studied, because utilising the plastic section capacity at midspan leads to a redistribution of internal forces to the supports. Based on the comprehensive study of an old, actual strengthened composite bridge, some limitations for plastic design are identified. Moreover, fully plastic design will sometimes need additional global analysis. Practical recommendations are given for design purposes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.279-292
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• 2006

Natural hazards, including the wind hazard and others, threaten the integrity of the modern society. A transportation system usually consists of roadways, bridges and related vehicles. Harsh environmental conditions, caused by such as wind, exist in the real world frequently and affect the dynamic performance of the transportation system through their interactions. Long-span bridges are usually the backbones of transportation lines. In windy conditions, the information about the dynamic performance of bridges and vehicles considering full interactions of environmental factors is very essential for people to assess the overall operational conditions and safety risks of the transportation lines. Most of existent approaches target specifically at several isolated tasks considering partial interaction effects. In order to improve the understanding of these related-in-nature problems integrally as well as the consistency of different approaches, a unified approach to integrally predict the dynamic performance of long-span bridges and vehicles under wind is introduced. Such an approach can be used as a general platform to predict the dynamic responses of vehicles and bridges under various situations through adopting both commercial and in-house software. Dynamic interaction effects can be fully considered automatically for each situation. An example of a prototype bridge in US is given for the purpose of demonstration.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.241-257
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• 2003

The first seismically isolated structure in Taiwan was completed in early 1999. Seven new bridges of the Second National Freeway located at Bai-Ho area, a region which is considered to be of high seismic risk, have been designed and constructed with lead-rubber seismic isolation bearings. Since this is the first application of seismic isolation method to the practical construction in Taiwan, field tests were conducted for one of the seven bridges to evaluate the assumptions and uncertainties in the design and construction. The test program is composed of ambient vibration tests, forced vibration tests, and free vibration tests. For the free vibration tests, a special test setup composed of four 1000 kN hydraulic jacks and a quick-release mechanism was designed to perform the function of push-and-quick release. Valuable results have been obtained based on the correlation between measured and analytical data so that the analytical model can be calibrated. Based on the analytical correlation, it is concluded that the dynamic characteristics and free vibration behavior of the isolated bridge can be well captured when the nonlinear properties of the bearings are properly considered in the modeling.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-28
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• 2019

This article investigates the response of Integral Abutment Bridges (IAB) when subjected to a sequence of seasonal thermal loading of the deck followed by ground seismic shaking in the longitudinal direction. Particular emphasis is placed on the effect of pre-seismic thermal Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on the seismic performance of the IAB, as well as on the ability of various backfills configurations, to minimize the unfavorable SSI effects. A series of two-dimensional numerical analyses were performed for this purpose, on a complete backfill-integral bridge-foundation soil system, subjected to seasonal cyclic thermal loading of the deck, followed by ground seismic shaking, employing ABAQUS. Various backfill configurations were investigated, including conventional dense cohesionless backfills, mechanically stabilized backfills and backfills isolated by means of compressive inclusions. The responses of the investigated configurations, in terms of backfill deformations and earth pressures, and bridge resultants and displacements, were compared with each other, as well as with relevant predictions from analyses, where the pre-seismic thermal SSI effects were neglected. The effects of pre-seismic thermal SSI on the seismic response of the coupled IAB-soil system were more evident in cases of conventional backfills, while they were almost negligible in case of IAB with mechanically stabilized backfills and isolated abutments. Along these lines, reasonable assumptions should be made in the seismic analysis of IAB with conventional sand backfills, to account for pre-seismic thermal SSI effects. On the contrary, the analysis of the SSI effects, caused by thermal and seismic loading, can be disaggregated in cases of IAB with isolated backfills.