SUMMARYThis paper presents the e ect of isolator and substructure properties as well as the frequency characteristics and intensity of the ground motion on the performance of seismic-isolated bridges (SIBs) and examines some critical design clauses in the AASHTO Guide Speciÿcation for Seismic Isolation Design. For this purpose, a parametric study, involving more than 800 non-linear time history analyses of simpliÿed structural models representative of typical SIBs, is conducted. The results from the parametric study are then used to derive important design recommendations and conclusions that may be used by bridge engineers to arrive to a more sound and economical design of SIBs. It is found that the SIB response is a function of the peak ground acceleration to peak ground velocity ratio of the ground motion. Thus, the choice of the seismic ground motion according to the characteristics of the bridge site is crucial for a correct design of the SIB. It is also found that the characteristic strength of the isolator may be chosen based on the intensity and frequency characteristics of the ground motion. Furthermore, the isolator post-elastic sti ness is found to have a notable e ect on the response of SIBs.

No abstract

No abstract

In this study, an improved effective damping (ED) equation is proposed to obtain more reasonable estimates of the actual nonlinear response of seismic-isolated bridges (SIB) using equivalent linear (EL) analysis procedure. For this purpose, first the EL analysis results using AASHTO's ED equation is evaluated using harmonic and seismic ground motions. The effect of several parameters such as substructure stiffness, isolator properties, and the intensity and frequency characteristics of the ground motion are considered in the evaluation. Next, the effect of the superstructure mass on the ED ratio is studied. It is found that the accuracy of the EL analysis results is affected by the frequency characteristics and intensity of the ground motion. It is also demonstrated that AASHTO's ED equation should incorporate the effective period of the SIB and isolator properties for a more accurate estimation of the seismic response quantities. A new ED equation that includes such parameters is formulated and found to improve the accuracy of the EL analysis.