Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Piers Including a Flexure-Shear Interaction Model

Abstract

This paper discusses the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge structures, focusing on the shear–flexure interaction phenomena. The assessment of reinforced concrete bridges under seismic action needs the ability to model the effective non-linear response in order to identify the relevant failure modes of the structure. Existing RC bridges have been conceived according to old engineering practices and codes, lacking the implementation of capacity design principles, and therefore can exhibit premature shear failures with a reduction of available strength and ductility. In particular, recent studies have shown that the shear strength can decrease with the increase of flexural damage after the development of plastic hinges and, in some cases, this can cause unexpected shear failures in the plastic branch with a consequent reduction of ductility. The aim of the research is to implement those phenomena in a finite-element analysis. The proposed model consists of a flexure fiber element coupled with a shear and a rotational slip spring. The model has been implemented in the OpenSEES framework and calibrated against experimental data, showing a good ability to capture the overall response.

Finite Element Study on the Shear Capacity of Traditional Joints between Walls Made of AAC Masonry Units

“…The higher stiffness of the numerical model can be explained by the fact that the model does not take into account potential movements, slips and deformations in the test set-up, which is a common observation. Similar differences between the results of the experiments and simulations (in terms of displacements in the elastic phase) were also found in [ 19 , 23 , 33 , 50 ]. Experimental and FE load vs. displacement curves are plotted in Figure 10 .…”

“…It provides great opportunities to analyse structures composed of various materials, e.g., reinforced concrete or masonry [17][18][19]. The use of advanced material models allows analysis of structural load-bearing capacity, damage development [20][21][22][23], changes in stress state and adhesion deformation and reinforcement anchoring [24][25][26]. Despite the development of knowledge and the continuous increase of computing power, it is not yet possible to build a numerical model of a structure enabling a global analysis that includes all physical phenomena.…”

A Resilience-Based Model for the Seismic Assessment of the Functionality of Road Networks Affected by Bridge Damage and Restoration

“…where Φ(•) is the standard normal cumulative distribution function, ln(•) is the natural logaritm, and µ i and β i are, respectively the median value and the lognormal standard deviation of I m associated with damage state LS i . The development of fragility curves can be performed through observation of the empirical or damage sustained by homogeneous class of bridges [37] or through analytical methods, for the most part, based on the use of computational tools such as finite elements [38][39][40].…”

Seismic Design and Performance Assessment of Frame Buildings Reinforced by Dual-Phase Steel

“…The lumped plasticity models are simplistic. Therefore, some phenomena observed in reinforced concrete structures (e.g., buckling of rebar bars in compression, bond-slip [40]) cannot be directly simulated. These phenomena are taken into account only indirectly through the empirical-based regression equations for the estimation of the limit-state deformation capacity, which is usual practice in the assessment.…”