• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.301-306
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• 2008

The present seismic analysis of Road-Bridge Design Standard is on a basis of load-vased analysis which lets structures have the strength over load. In this study, the capacity spectrum method, a kind of displacement based method, which is evaluated by displacement of structure, is presented as an alternative to the analysis method based on load. Seismic capacity is performed about the existing reinforced concrete pier which has already secured seismic design by capacity spectrum method. As a result, capacity spectrum method could realistically evaluate the non-elastic behavior of structures easilly and quickly and the displacement of structures for variable ground motion level. And it could efficiently apply to an evaluation of seismic capacity about the existing structures and a verification of design for capacity target of the structure. We propose the seisemic performance method by using the Finite Element Analysis Program.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.365-381
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• 2012

Recent earthquakes have damaged some bridges located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico; these bridges have been retrofitted or rebuilt. Based on the fact that the Pacific Coast is a highly active seismic zone where most of the strong earthquakes in the country occur, one fertile and important area of research is the study of the vulnerability of both new and existent bridges located in this area that can be subjected to strong earthquakes. This work is focused on estimating the contribution of some parameters identified to have major influence on the seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete bridges. Ten models of typical reinforced concrete (RC) bridges, and two existing bridges located close to the Pacific Coast of Mexico are considered. The group of structures selected for the study is based on two span bridges, two pier heights and two substructure types. The bridges were designed according to recent codes in Mexico. For the vulnerability study, the capacity of the structure was evaluated based on the FEMA recommendations. On the other hand, the demand was evaluated using a group of more than one hundred accelerograms recorded close to the subduction zone of Mexico. The results show that the two existent bridges analyzed show similar trends of behavior of the group of bridge models studied. In spite of the contribution that traditional variables (height and substructure type) had to the bridge seismic response, the bridge length was also found to be one of the parameters that most contributed to the seismic vulnerability of these RC medium-length bridges.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.41-53
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• 2012

The objective of this study is to evaluate the seismic capacity of RC piers with small aspect ratios. Test specimens were selected from the prototype piers among existing national roadway bridges which are expected to fail in shear and/or complex shear-flexural mode. Two groups of full scale RC pier models were constructed with aspect ratios of 2.25 and 2.67. Quasi-static tests have been implemented to investigate the failure behavior of the RC piers in terms of the lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcing steel and the aspect ratio. It is confirmed that regarding its shear-flexural behavior, the pier is very sensitive to the aspect ratio or details. In the case of a test pier with highly lap-spliced longitudinal bars, the bond failure of lap-splice steels was the dominant cause of failure before the occurrence of flexure or shear-flexural failure, despite a slight change in the aspect ratio. Finally, based on the test results and analysis, this paper proposes formulas for the yielding and ultimate displacements of circular reinforced concrete bridge piers without seismic details. These formulas will be useful for the investigation and upgrade of the seismic capacity of bridge piers without seismic details.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.16 no.3 s.81
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• pp.357-367
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• 2004

In this paper, the effect of cumulative damage for reinforced concrete bridge piers subjected to both single and multiple earthquakes is investigated. For this purpose, selected are three set of accelerograms one of which represents the real successive input ground motions, recorded at the same station with three months time interval. The analytical predictions indicate that piers are in general subjected to a large number of inelastic cycles and increased ductility demand due to multiple earthquakes, and hence more damage in terms of stiffness degradation is expected to occur. In addition, displacement ductility demand demonstrates that inelastic seismic response of piers can significantly be affected by the applied input ground motion characteristics. Also evaluated is the effect of multiple earthquakes on the response with shear. Comparative studies between the cases with and without shear indicate that stiffness degradation and hence reduction in energy dissipation capacity of piers are pronounced due to the multiple earthquakes combined with shear. It is thus concluded that the effect of multiple earthquakes should be taken into account for the stability assessment of reinforced concrete bridge piers.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.451-458
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• 2008

The near-fault ground motion (NFGM) is characterized by a single long period velocity pulse of large magnitude. NFGM's have been observed in recent strong earthquakes, Izmit Turkey (1999), Kobe Japan (1995), Northridge USA (1994), etc. These strong earthquakes have caused considerable damage to infrastructures because the epicenter was close to the urban area, called as NFGM. Extensive research for the near-fault ground motion (NFGM) have been carried out in strong seismic region, but limited research have been done for NFGM in low or moderate seismic regions because of very few records. The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the effect of near-fault ground motions on reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers with lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcing steels. The seismic performance of four RC bridge piers under near-fault ground motions was investigated on the shake table. In addition, a RC bridge pier is subjected to pseudo-dynamic loadings. Test results showed that large residual displacements were observed in RC bridge piers under NFGM. RC specimens on the shake table failed at relatively low displacement ductility, compared with the displacement ductility of RC bridge pier subjected to pseudo-dynamic loadings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.435-444
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• 2022

This study proposes a novel longitudinal self-centering earthquake resistant system for reinforced concrete (RC) continuous bridges by using superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) reinforcement and friction dissipation mechanism. The SMA reinforcing bars are implemented in the fixed piers to provide self-recentering forces, while the friction dampers are used at the movable substructures like end abutments to enhance the energy dissipation of the bridge system. A reasonable balance between self-centering and energy dissipation capacities should be well achieved by properly selecting the parameters of the SMA rebars and friction dampers. A two-span continuous bridge with one fixed pier and two abutments is chosen as a prototype for illustration. Different longitudinal earthquake resistant systems including the proposed one in this study are investigated and compared. The results indicate that compared with the designs of over-dissipation (e.g., excessive friction) and over-self-centering (e.g., pure SMAs), the proposed system with balanced design between self-centering and energy dissipation would perform satisfactorily in controlling both the peak and residual displacement ratios of the bridge system.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.16 no.1 s.79
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• pp.61-69
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• 2004

The bridge piers under service suffered a brittle failure due to the deterioration of lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcement without developing its flexural capacity or ductility. The earthquake induced lateral force results in tension which causes bond-slip failure at the lap-spliced region in circular bridge piers. In this case, such a brittle failure can be controlled by the seismic retrofit using FRP laminated circular tube. The retrofitted piers using FRP laminated circular tube showed significant improvement in seismic performance due to FRP's confinement effect. This paper presents the analytical results on the seismic strengthening effect of circular bridge piers with poor lap-splice details and strengthened with FRP laminated circular tube. FRP's confinement effect is predicted by the classical elasticity solution for the laminated circular tube manufactured with several layers. The FRP laminated circular tube induces the flexural failure instead of a bond-slip failure of the circular reinforced concrete piers under seismic induced lateral forces. To investigate the correctness and effectiveness of analytical solution derived in this study, the analytical results were compared with the experimental data and it was confirmed that the results were correlated well each other, The effects on the confinement of FRP laminated circular tube, such as the number of layers, the fiber orientations, and the mechanical properties, were investigated. From the parametric study, it was found that the number of layers, the fiber orientations, and the major Young's modulus (E11) of the FRP laminated circular tube were the dominant parameters affecting the confinement of reinforced concrete circular bridge piers.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.667-673
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• 2010

The near fault ground motion (NFGM) is characterized by a single long period velocity pulse with large magnitude. NFGMs have been observed in recent strong earthquakes, Northridge (1994), Japan Kobe (1995), Turkey Izmit (1999), China Sichuan (2008), Haiti (2010) etc. These strong earthquakes have caused considerable damage to infrastructures because the epicenter was close to the urban area, called as NFGM. Extensive research for the far field ground motion (FFGM) have been carried out in strong seismic region, but limited research have been done for NFGM in low or moderate seismic regions because of very few records. The purpose of this research is to investigate and analyze the seismic response of reinforced concrete bridge piers subjected to near-fault ground motions. The seismic performance of six RC bridge piers depending on three confinement steel ratios and three superstructure mass was investigated on the shaking table. From these experimental results, it was confirmed that the reduction of seismic performance was observed for test specimens with lower confinement steel ratio or more deck weight. The displacement ductility of RC bridge piers in terms of the stiffness degradation is proposed based on test results the shaking table.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.367-389
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• 2008

Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are unique materials with a paramount potential for various applications in bridges. The novelty of this material lies in its ability to undergo large deformations and return to its undeformed shape through stress removal (superelasticity) or heating (shape memory effect). In particular, Ni-Ti alloys have distinct thermomechanical properties including superelasticity, shape memory effect, and hysteretic damping. SMA along with sensing devices can be effectively used to construct smart Reinforced Concrete (RC) bridges that can detect and repair damage, and adapt to changes in the loading conditions. SMA can also be used to retrofit existing deficient bridges. This includes the use of external post-tensioning, dampers, isolators and/or restrainers. This paper critically examines the fundamental characteristics of SMA and available sensing devices emphasizing the factors that control their properties. Existing SMA models are discussed and the application of one of the models to analyze a bridge pier is presented. SMA applications in the construction of smart bridge structures are discussed. Future trends and methods to achieve smart bridges are also proposed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.471-488
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• 2011

The Ting Kau Bridge in Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge comprising two main spans and two side spans. The bridge deck is supported by three towers, an end pier and an abutment. Each of the three towers consists of a single reinforced concrete mast strengthened by transverse cables and struts. The bridge deck is supported by four inclined planes of cables emanating from anchorages at the tower tops. In view of the heavy traffic on the bridge, and threats from typhoons and earthquakes originated in areas nearby, the dynamic behaviour of long-span cable-supported bridges in the region is always an important consideration in their design. Baseline finite element models of various levels of sophistication have been built not only to match the bridge geometry and cable forces specified on the as-constructed drawings but also to be calibrated using the vibration measurement data captured by the Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System. This paper further describes the analysis of axle loading data, as well as the generation of random axle loads and simulation of vibrations of the bridge using the finite element models. Various factors affecting the vehicular loading on the bridge will also be examined.