Effects of Earthquake Incidence Angle and Asynchronous Support Excitation on Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridges

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
A. Gholipour
M. R. Davoodi
H. Yousefpour
Babol Noshirvani University of Technology
10.22034.24.3.71
Abstract
Arch bridges have been commonly used in high-seismicity regions of the world, as a result of which notable damage has been documented in several arch bridges during past earthquakes. Certain aspects of seismic behavior of arch bridges are different from those in typical slab-on-girder bridges, including the significance of axial loads, sizable differences between in-plane and out-of-plane stiffness, and the use of piers with different heights. However, limited previous studies have addressed the seismic behavior of concrete arch bridges. In the present study, the effects of earthquake incidence angle and asynchronous support excitation on reinforced concrete arch bridges are investigated. Nonlinear 3-D models of four existing reinforced concrete deck-type arch bridges in Iran were developed. The bridges had arch spans of 23, 35, 45 and 50 meters and were subjected to nonlinear time history analyses using seven acceleration records. The incidence angle was changed in 15 degrees increment between 0 and 90 degrees. Moreover, the effect of asynchronous support excitation was investigated by means of introducing a time delay between excitation input for different supports. The relative displacement (drift) of the piers, the curvature ductility demands within the piers, the curvature ductility demand at different locations of the arch, and the displacement of the deck at the abutments (unseating) were used as damage indicators. The results showed that unseating of the bridge deck from abutments and pier drifts were the most and the least sensitive damage parameter to the change in incidence angle, respectively. The axial force at the end points of the arch was found to change significantly during earthquake, with a maximum of 40 percent in case of 90-degree incidence angle. The effect of asynchronous support excitations was relatively small, with a maximum increase of 10 percent in damage indicators and 5 percent in the axial forces and bending moments.

Keywords

Subjects

Yousefpour H, Gallardo JM, Helwig TA, Bayrak O. Innovative precast, prestressed concrete network arches: Elastic response during construction. Struct Concr. 2017.
Caglayan, B.Ozden., Ozakgul, K., and Tezer, O.; “Effect of Ground Motion Characteristics on the Seismic Response of a Monumental Concrete Arch Bridge” Seismic Engineering Conference Commemorating the 1908 Messina and Reggio Calabria Earthquake, 2008.
Chavez, H. and Alvarez, Jose J.; “Seismic Performance Of A Long Span Arch Bridge Taking Account of Fluctuation of Axial Force.” The 14th World Conference Of Earthquake Engineering, Beijing, China, October 2008.
Alvarez, J.J., Aparicio, A.C., Jara, J.M., Jara, M.; “Seismic assessment of a long-span arch bridge considering the variation in axial forces induced by earthquakes.” Engineering Structures, 2012.
Khan, E., Sullivan, T., and Kowalsky, M.; “Direct Displacement–Based Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridges.” Journal of Bridge Engineering (ASCE), 2014.
Farahani, E. M., Maalek, Sh; “An investigation of the seismic behavior of a deck-type reinforced concrete arch bridge.” Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, 2017.
Torbol, M., & Shinozuka, M. Effect of the angle of seismic incidence on the fragility curves of bridges. Earthquake engineering & structural dynamics, 41(14), 2111-2124, 2012.
Savor Novak, Marta, Damir Lazarevic, Josip Atalic, and Mario Uros. "Influence of multiple-support excitation on seismic response of reinforced concrete arch bridges." Applied Sciences 10, no. 1. 17, 2020.
Rezaei, H., Arabestani, S., Akbari, R., & Noroozinejad Farsangi, E.The effects of earthquake incidence angle on the seismic fragility of reinforced concrete box-girder bridges of unequal pier heights. Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 2022.
Scattarreggia, N, et al. "Collapse analysis of the multi-span reinforced concrete arch bridge of Caprigliola, Italy." Engineering Structures 251 2022.
Seismosoft, “SeismoStruct 2020 – A computer program for static and dynamic nonlinear analysis of framed structures. http://seismosoft.com/.”
Scharge, L. "Anchoring of bearings by friction, joint sealing and bearing systems for concrete structures." World congress on joints and bearings. Vol. 1. 1981.
Chang G, Mander J. "Seismic energy based fatigue damage analysis of bridge columns: Part I-Evaluation of seismic capacity." 1994.
Menegotto, M., and P. E. Pinto. "Method of analysis for cyclically loaded reinforced concrete plane frames including changes in geometry and non-elastic of elements under combined normal force and bending." Proceedings, IABSE symposium. 1973.
Applied Technology Council. Quantification of building seismic performance factors (FEMA P695). US Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, 2009.
American Society of Civil Engineers. "Minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures." American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2010.
E.C. Bentz, Sectional Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Members, PhD thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, 184. 2000.
Modares Civil Engineering journal
Volume 24, Issue 3
July and August 2024
Pages 71-84