Authors:
Youcef Youb; Abdelkrim Kadid; Hanane Lombarkia;
Abstract:
The cumulative damage caused by aftershocks has become an important area of research to ensure the safety of bridges in post-mainshock scenarios. This study analyzes the evolution of the seismic rigidity relationships of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge pier column systems subjected to mainshock–aftershock (MS–AS) sequences. Material non-linearity has been considered through lumped plasticity models for different percentages and grade types of the reinforcing steel bars. The RC bridge pier columns are simulated by using the SAP 2000 package software and subjected to a set of ground motion sequences. The results indicate that the characteristics of the aftershocks significantly influence the damaged state of the RC bridge pier columns after a mainshock. The additional damage caused by aftershocks to the pre-damaged RC bridge pier column in the plastic region is minimized by substituting a few ordinary longitudinal steel-reinforced bars with identical tubular bars, characterized by their high expected yield stress. This technique can decrease the vulnerability of
the bridge to additional aftershock damage by enhancing the post-yielding stiffness, thereby improving the post-mainshock behavior of the bridge.
Keywords:
RC bridge pier column, Non-linear behavior, Aftershocks, Rigidity degradation, Cumulative damage, Post-yield stiffness