Validation of Numerical Simulations of a Two-Span Reinforced Concrete Bridge

Abstract eng:
Numerical simulations of the seismic response of reinforced concrete bridges must produce accurate predictions of local and global response quantities over a range of nonlinear response to facilitate performance-based earthquake engineering. Current challenges associated with these numerical simulations include selecting the column effective stiffness during the cracked-elastic response, accounting for additional flexibility at the column ends due to strain penetration along the anchored reinforcement, and modeling the column failure in flexure. To determine the efficacy of these numerical simulations, they may be validated against data from physical tests. Shake table tests of a two-span reinforced concrete bridge were conducted at the University of Nevada, Reno as part of a research effort through the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES). The bridge was subjected to a total of 23 ground motions in the transverse direction ranging from pre-yield and increasing until failure. These tests provide a unique opportunity to assess the validity of numerical simulations of the seismic performance of a reinforced concrete bridge over a range of nonlinear response. Nonlinear dynamic analyses of three-dimensional finite element models with different assumptions regarding the modeling of reinforced concrete columns were evaluated based on experimental data at both the local and global levels. The results of these comparisons lend insight into the implications of modeling decisions for reinforced concrete bridge systems.

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