Seismic Assessment of Hollow Core Concrete Bridge Piers

Abstract eng:
A large number of hollow core concrete bridge piers have been constructed over the past few decades due to their beneficial characteristics. However, the seismic performance of hollow core concrete bridge piers has not been fully investigated. Even the modern codes of practice do not recognize the specific problems associated with such piers. In this paper, an analytical model is developed to assess seismic vulnerability of hollow core concrete bridge piers. The model is validated with available experimental results. Code recommendations for hollow core bridge piers are evaluated. It is shown that confinement reinforcement requirements in the codes are sometimes highly conservative and sometimes non-conservative. However, the recently developed confinement reinforcement equations by the authors for solid bridge piers can be applied for the design of hollow core piers for economic and safe design. It is demonstrated that hollow core bridge piers can attain expected ductility, if designed properly.

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