Seismic Response of Skewed RC Box-Girder Bridges

Abstract eng:
Seismic vulnerability of highway bridges remains an important problem and has received increased attention as a consequence of unprecedented damage observed during several major earthquakes. A significant number of research studies have examined the performance of skewed highway bridges under service and seismic loads. Nonetheless, there are no detailed guidelines addressing the performance of skewed highway bridges. Several parameters affect the response of skewed highway bridges under both service and seismic loads which makes their behavior complex. Therefore, there is a need for more research to study the effect of skew angle and the other relating factors on the performance of highway bridges. This paper examines the seismic performance of a three-span continuous concrete box girder bridge with skew angles from 0 to 60 degrees, analytically. The bridge was modeled using finite element (FE) and simplified beam-stick (BS) using SAP2000. Different types of analysis were considered on both models such as: nonlinear static pushover and linear and nonlinear time history analyses. A comparison was conducted between FE and BS, different skew angles, abutment support conditions, and time history and pushover analysis. It is shown that BS model has the capability to capture the coupling due to skew and the significant modes for moderate skew angles. Boundary conditions and pushover load profile are determined to have a major effect on pushover analysis. Pushover analysis may be used to predict the maximum deformation and hinge formation adequately.

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