Blast Resistance of Seismically Designed Bridge Piers

Abstract eng:
The issue of protecting infrastructure against multiple extreme events is gaining interest in civil engineering. The authors previously presented the development and experimental validation of a multi-hazard bridge pier concept, i.e., a bridge pier system capable of providing an adequate level of protection against collapse under both seismic and blast loading. The proposed concept was a multi-column pier-bent with concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns. The columns turned out to be effective for blast loadings because breaching and spalling of concrete are prevented to occur in the CFST columns. While CFST columns perform excellently in a multi-hazard perspective, they have not been commonly used in bridge engineering practice. Questions arose as to whether conventional columns designed to perform satisfactory under seismic excitations would possess adequate blast resistance. Two commonly used systems to provide ductile performance of reinforced concrete (RC) columns in seismic regions were considered in this project; first, RC columns with closely spaced stirrups in compliance with latest seismic provisions, and second, non-ductile reinforced concrete columns retrofitted with steel jackets. This paper presents the findings of research to examine seismically resistant bridge piers that are designed according to current seismic knowledge and that are currently applied in typical highway bridge designs. A series of experiments were performed on 1/4 scale typical seismically detailed ductile RC columns and non-ductile RC columns retrofitted with steel jacketing. The standard RC and steel jacketed RC columns, known to exhibit satisfactory seismic behavior, failed in shear at the base of the column under blast loading.

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