Analysis and Testing of Piles for Ship Impact Defenses

Abstract

This paper deals with analyses and reduced scale tests carried out to validate the design of flexible protection structures for bridge piers against ship impact. The protection system analyzed is part of the fixed link currently under construction across the Parana River between the cities of Rosario and Victoria in Argentina, and it will protect a cable-stayed bridge and parts of the approach viaduct against impact of aberrant vessels with sizes up to 100,000 DWT. The protection system was designed on the basis of dissipated energy and consists of groups of steel-encased large diameter concrete piles connected at the top by a reinforced concrete platform. The impact energy is to be absorbed by large horizontal displacements of the pile caps that involve large deformations of the surrounding soil and geometrically and material nonlinear response of the pile shafts themselves. The paper focuses on modeling the nonlinear characteristics of the response of the structure, and on its assessment by means of 1:15 scale model tests performed in both the laboratory and in the field to account for the displacements and deformations undergone by the pile shafts.

Experimental study on impact force identification of ship-bridge collision using smart piezoelectric sensors

“…Ship impact forces during the ship-bridge collision events are the foundational element which should be considered, given that both the design of a new bridge and the evaluation of an existing bridge after a ship collision will rely on the ship impact forces. The determination of the ship impact force during a ship-bridge collision accident is very complex as it is uncertain and time dependent; and among other factors, it depends on the type and velocity of the vessel, the location and direction of the impact, the geometrical and mechanical properties of the bridge structure, and the effectiveness of the existing protection system [1][2][3][4].…”