Structures Congress 2020 144
© ASCE
Seismic Evaluation of Repaired Bridge Bent Using Dynamic Analysis
Ruo-Yang Wu, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
1
; and Chris P. Pantelides, Ph.D., S.E., M.ASCE
2
1
Wilson and Company, South Jordan, UT; Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ.
of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. E-mail: ruoyang.wu@utah.edu
2
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. E-mail:
c.pantelides@utah.edu
ABSTRACT
Seismic performance evaluation of a structurally deficient as-built reinforced concrete bridge
bent and a comparison to a retrofitted bridge bent was conducted. The as-built bridge bent had
deficient seismic details and was retrofitted with a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP)
donut, which included a CFRP shell, eight headed steel bars, nonshrink concrete, and a steel
collar around the column; CFRP composite jackets were also employed to increase column shear
capacity. Detailed design guidelines of the rehabilitation method by using a simplified strut-and-
tie model (STM) were presented which could be applied to rehabilitate similar reinforced
concrete bridges. A fiber-based model was developed in OpenSees; in addition, soil-structure
interaction (SSI) was considered using simplified springs; the bridge bent model was validated
using experimental results from previous research of an existing bridge. A comparison of the as-
built and retrofitted bridge bents under nonlinear static pushover analysis, incremental dynamic
analysis (IDA), and fragility analysis using 22 far-field ground motions, showed that the
rehabilitation method improved the seismic performance in terms of load capacity and structural
stiffness.
Keywords: Seismic evaluation; Retrofit; Repair; Rehabilitation; Earthquake; Concrete;
Bridge; Fragility analysis; Incremental dynamic analysis; Soil-structure interaction.
INTRODUCTION
According to the infrastructure report card conducted by the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) in 2017, about 40% of the bridges in the national inventory are 50 years or
older and 9.1% of the bridges were considered to be structurally deficient. Bridges are
considered structurally deficient when significant load-carrying components are in poor
condition due to material deterioration, damage, or both. Existing bridges in high seismic zones
that were built during the period from 1950 to 1970 may not have adequate seismic resistance as
required by current codes, standards, and guidelines (MCEER/ATC-49 2003).
Repairing damaged bridges after an earthquake is preferable to replacing them, since it is less
costly and requires less interruption of regular service. To improve the seismic performance of
existing structurally deficient reinforced concrete (RC) structures, extensive research has been
conducted on developing seismic rehabilitation techniques (He et al. 2015).
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have been used since the early 1990s
because of their high strength, light weight, and noncorrosive properties. A seismic repair
method, referred to as the CFRP “donut”, had been developed using a CFRP cylindrical shell,
and headed steel bars anchored into the footing/cap beam for precast columns connected with
splice sleeves (Parks et al. 2016). An improved method using nonshrink repair concrete cast
inside the CFRP shell made of hoop and longitudinal (vertical) CFRP layers, and a steel collar
was implemented for the repair of two cast-in-place bridge columns with concrete crushing and
Structures Congress 2020
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