Experimental Study on the Cyclic Response of an Existing RC Bridge Pier

Abstract eng:
This paper deals with experimental activity on piers belonging to an old viaduct of the Italian highway network. The tests consist of cyclically imposed displacement to a 1:4 scale of one of the piers, performed in the laboratory of the department of structures of the University of Roma Tre. The objectives of the experimental campaign is twofold: 1) evaluation of the failure mechanisms and collapse strength of the pier, 2) calibration of a numerical non-linear model using Opensees code, in order to simulate the seismic behaviour of the analyzed bridge. The experimental test performed on the first mock-up has shown that the shear behaviour is extremely relevant. In particular, the shear failure of the transverse beam highly influences the global cyclic behaviour of the specimen, with a pronounced pinching effect that reduces the dissipation capability of the pier. Moreover, other less relevant phenomena are observed: bond-slip of the reinforcing bars and buckling of the longitudinal steel bars of the column. A numerical model built in Opensees has been calibrated in order to reproduce the experimental results and provide a reliable model for further seismic analyses. Using literature models to reproduce the experimentally observed phenomena, the model has been able to simulate the real behaviour of the specimen in a satisfactory way.

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