Characterization of the Seismic Behavior of a Column-Foundation Connection for Accelerated Bridge Construction

Abstract eng:
Connections between prefabricated elements are crucial to ensure adequate behavior of structures, especially if these are located on intermediate or high seismic hazard regions and the structural system redundancy is low, as is the case of bridges and wharfs. Due to this reason, prefabrication is usual on bridge elements that will behave within the linear elastic range of response. However, some research in the last decade aims to extend prefabrication to energy dissipating elements such as bridge columns. These developments are highly influenced by the construction practice of each region, making them difficult to adapt in places other than those where they were conceived. This paper presents the development of a prefabricated emulative energy dissipating column-to-foundation connection. To begin, a conceptual comparative evaluation of the main types of ductile connections use worldwide is presented. According to this review, it was possible to identify that the Grouted Duct Connection has a great potential to be improved for worldwide applications and it has a particular suitability for implementation in Latin American countries. This connection requires the main longitudinal reinforcement of the columns to be projected to fit inside ducts embedded in the foundation that are then filled with no-shrink grout. A successful application of this connection has to provide enough construction tolerances for the elements to fit. Therefore, large diameter bars (No. 14 to No. 18) are currently preferred as longitudinal column reinforcement. Nonetheless, large diameter bars need equally large straight anchorage length that often controls the size of the foundation, making it hard to build, handle and transport. Moreover, reinforcing bars with diameters greater than No. 10 are not available in some regions of the globe such as a few Latin American countries. Due to these problems, this investigation develops a new alternative for column to foundation connection that use galvanized steel ducts to hold bundled bars instead of individual bars, ensuring feasible construction tolerance as well as reducing size and weight of the foundation. To assess the behavior of the proposed connections, a series of monotonic pullout tests were conducted on single-, two- and three- No. 8 bar bundles for different embedded lengths. These tests allowed proving that for the typical foundation dimensions, the proposed procedure adequately developed bundled reinforcement.

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