Effect of vehicle bridge interaction on seismic response and fragility of bridges

This study focuses on understanding and evaluating the effect of vehicle bridge interaction (VBI) on the response and fragility of bridges subjected to earthquakes. A comprehensive study on the effect of VBI on bridge seismic performance is conducted, providing metamodels for seismic response and fragility estimates for bridges in the presence of various types of vehicles. For this purpose, the performance of multispan simply supported concrete girder bridges with varying design and geometric parameters is assessed with 3 different types of stationary trucks placed atop them. To delineate the effects of VBI and additional truck mass, the trucks are modeled in 2 different ways—with additional masses and suspension springs (ie, with VBI) and using additional masses only (without VBI). The results provide insight on VBI effects, such as the fact that when bridge and vehicle mode shapes are in‐phase, the component responses increase and vice versa; additionally, the presence of a heavy axle near a bent increases component responses. Sensitivity analyses are also performed to determine the bridge parameters that significantly alter the component responses in the presence of vehicles. Furthermore, differences in component responses and fragilities highlight that modeling vehicles with additional masses alone is not sufficient to model the effect of truck presence on the seismic response of bridges. Finally, this study concludes that depending on the characteristics of the bridge and the vehicle, presence of a vehicle atop the bridge during an earthquake may be either beneficial or detrimental to bridge performance.     

Seismic fragility methodology for highway bridges using a component level approach

Bridge fragility curves, which express the probability of a bridge reaching a certain damage state for a given ground motion parameter, play an important role in the overall seismic risk assessment of a transportation network. Current analytical methodologies for generating bridge fragility curves do not adequately account for all major contributing bridge components. Studies have shown that for some bridge types, neglecting to account for all of these components can lead to a misrepresentation of the bridges' overall fragilities. In this study, an expanded methodology for the generation of analytical fragility curves for highway bridges is presented. This methodology considers the contribution of the major components of the bridge, such as the columns, bearings and abutments, to its overall bridge system fragility. In particular, this methodology utilizes probability tools to directly estimate the bridge system fragility from the individual component fragilities. This is illustrated using a bridge whose construction and configuration are typical to the Central and Southeastern United States and the results are presented and discussed herein. This study shows that the bridge as a system is more fragile than any one of the individual components. Assuming that the columns represent the entire bridge system can result in errors as large as 50% at higher damage states. This provides support to the assertion that multiple bridge components should be considered in the development of bridge fragility curves. The findings also show that estimation of the bridge fragilities by their first‐order bounds could result in errors of up to 40%. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of fragility functions for geotechnical constructions: Application to cantilever retaining walls

Fragility curves constitute an emerging tool for the seismic risk assessment of all constructions at risk. They describe the probability of a structure being damaged beyond a specific damage state for various levels of ground shaking. They are usually represented as two-parameter (median and log-standard deviation) cumulative lognormal distributions. In this paper a numerical approach is proposed for the construction of fragility curves for geotechnical constructions. The methodology is applied to cantilever bridge abutments on surface foundation often used in road and railway networks. The response of the abutment to increasing levels of seismic intensity is evaluated using a 2D nonlinear FE model, with an elasto-plastic criterion to simulate the soil behavior. A calibration procedure is followed in order to account for the dependency of both the stiffness and the damping on the soil strain level. The effect of soil conditions and ground motion characteristics on the global soil and structural response is taken into account considering different typical soil profiles and seismic input motions. The objective is to assess the vulnerability of the road network as regards the performance of the bridge abutments; therefore, the level of damage, is described in terms of the range of settlement that is observed on the backfill. The effect of backfill material to the overall response of the abutment wall is also examined. The fragility curves are estimated based on the evolution of damage with increasing earthquake intensity. The proposed approach allows the evaluation of new fragility curves considering the distinctive features of the structure geometry, the input motion and the soil properties as well as the associated uncertainties. The proposed fragility curves are verified based on observed damage during the 2007 Niigata-Chuetsu Oki earthquake.     

Convex model-based calculation of robust seismic fragility curves of isolated continuous girder bridge

The convex model approach is applied to derive the robust seismic fragility curves of a five-span isolated continuous girder bridge with lead rubber bearings (LRB) in China. The uncertainty of structure parameters (the yield force and the post-yield stiffness of LRB, the yield strength of steel bars, etc.) are considered in the convex model, and the uncertainty of earthquake ground motions is also taken into account by selecting 40 earthquake excitations of peak ground acceleration magnitudes ranging from 0.125 to 1.126 g. A 3-D finite element model is employed using the software package OpenSees by considering the nonlinearity in the bridge piers and the isolation bearings. Section ductility of piers and shearing strain isolation bearings are treated as damage indices. The cloud method and convex model approach are used to construct the seismic fragility curves of the bridge components (LRB and bridge piers) and the bridge system, respectively. The numerical results indicate that seismic fragility of the bridge system and bridge components will be underestimated without considering the uncertainty of structural parameters. Therefore, the failure probability P _f,max had better be served as the seismic fragility, especially, the fragility of the bridge system is largely dictated by the fragility of LRB. Finally, the probabilistic seismic performance evaluation of the bridge is carried out according to the structural seismic risk estimate method.     

Methodology for the development of bridge‐specific fragility curves

A new methodology for the development of bridge‐specific fragility curves is proposed with a view to improving the reliability of loss assessment in road networks and prioritising retrofit of the bridge stock. The key features of the proposed methodology are the explicit definition of critical limit state thresholds for individual bridge components, with consideration of the effect of varying geometry, material properties, reinforcement and loading patterns on the component capacity; the methodology also includes the quantification of uncertainty in capacity, demand and damage state definition. Advanced analysis methods and tools (nonlinear static analysis and incremental dynamic response history analysis) are used for bridge component capacity and demand estimation, while reduced sampling techniques are used for uncertainty treatment. Whereas uncertainty in both capacity and demand is estimated from nonlinear analysis of detailed inelastic models, in practical application to bridge stocks, the demand is estimated through a standard response spectrum analysis of a simplified elastic model of the bridge. The simplified methodology can be efficiently applied to a large number of bridges (with different characteristics) within a road network, by means of an ad hoc developed software involving the use of a generic (elastic) bridge model, which derives bridge‐specific fragility curves. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

考虑冲刷作用效应桥梁桩基地震易损性分析

冲刷造成桩周土体的剥蚀将会削弱土体对桩基的侧向支撑能力,冲刷效应会对桥梁桩基的地震易损性产生影响,因此有必要对冲刷和地震共同作用下桥梁桩基的易损性进行研究。利用SAP2000软件建立三维桥梁有限元模型,通过非线性时程分析得到桥梁桩基地震响应峰值。采用概率性地震需求分析方法,建立不同冲刷深度下桥梁桩基地震易损性模型,在地震易损性函数假设为对数正态分布函数的基础上,通过回归分析得到概率模型中的参数,进而得到不同冲刷深度下桥梁桩基在不同破坏状态所对应的地震易损性曲线,并分析冲刷深度对桩基破坏概率的影响。研究结果表明:随着冲刷深度的增加,桥梁桩基在地震作用下的破坏概率显著增加。     

不同地震激励方向下隔震曲线梁桥易损性分析

为进一步评估隔震曲线梁桥在地震激励下的抗震性能,从地震易损性角度出发并兼顾考虑地震激励方向对其易损性的影响。利用APDL建立采用板式橡胶支座的隔震曲线梁桥有限元模型,从PEER中选取同一地震事件中的近断层地震动,按规范规定比例输入水平双向地震动进行非线性动力时程分析,结合地震响应与损伤指标计算得到各构件地震易损性曲线;考虑地震激励方向的变化,通过MATLAB编程绘制得到桥梁结构构件(桥墩与支座)以及整体系统的地震易损性曲面,分析探讨地震激励方向对隔震曲线梁桥易损性的影响。结果表明：不同极限状态下各桥墩切向损伤条件概率明显大于其径向,各支座的切向与径向易损性相差不大,但仍是各支座的切向易损性略大于径向易损性;桥梁各构件(桥墩与支座)切向易损性对地震激励方向均表现出很强依赖性,而径向易损性对其的依赖性相对较弱,且伴随损伤等级的提高,构件易损性对地震激励方向更加敏感;桥梁整体系统易损性对地震激励方向的变化不太敏感,且因各构件响应之间的相关性较高,其系统易损性更接近于易损性最大的构件——易损性下限;当进行隔震曲线梁桥抗震性能评估时,应考虑不同地震激励方向对其地震易损性的影响,从而使得易损性分析...     

Impact of seismic excitation direction on the fragility analysis of horizontally curved concrete bridges

The focus of this study is the impact of the seismic excitation direction on the fragility of horizontally curved bridges. Nonlinear time history analyses are performed on a typical, curved concrete bridge in China using a set of real ground motions with different incident angles. To build reliable probabilistic seismic demand models, ten commonly used intensity measures (IMs) are assessed in terms of various metrics to determine the optimal IMs, which account for the influence of the seismic excitation directions. Subsequently, fragility surfaces with respect to both the optimal IM and incident angles are generated to qualify the fragility sensitivity for various components and the bridge system to the seismic excitation directions. Moreover, the rationality and applicability of the methods recommended by the Caltrans, Eurocode 8 and Chinese codes for determining the seismic excitation direction of curved bridges are evaluated. The results indicate that the excitation direction imposes a minor impact on the optimal IM rankings. Compared to structure-independent IMs, structure-dependent IMs are more appropriate for predicting the demands of horizontally curved concrete bridges. However, the seismic excitation direction significantly affects the component fragilities, and the level of the effect intensifies with increasing limit states. If the incident angle occurrence probability is not provided, the Chinese code method for the seismic excitation direction is more suitable for the horizontally curved concrete bridge fragility assessment, which has the advantages of computational efficiency when compared to the Caltrans code and relatively conservative results when compared to Eurocode 8.     

Seismic fragility of reinforced concrete girder bridges using Bayesian belief network

Infrastructure owners and operators, or governmental agencies, need rapid screening tools to prioritize detailed risk assessment and retrofit resources allocation. This paper provides one such tool, for use by highway administrations, based on Bayesian belief network (BBN) and aimed at replacing so‐called generic or typological seismic fragility functions for reinforced concrete girder bridges. Resources for detailed assessments should be allocated to bridges with highest consequence of damage, for which site hazard, bridge fragility, and traffic data are needed. The proposed BBN based model is used to quantify seismic fragility of bridges based on data that can be obtained by visual inspection and engineering drawings. Results show that the predicted fragilities are of sufficient accuracy for establishing relative ranking and prioritizing. While the actual data and seismic hazard employed to train the network (establishing conditional probability tables) refer to the Italian bridge stock, the network structure and engineering judgment can easily be adopted for bridges in different geographical locations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time-variant fragility analysis of the bridge system considering time-varying dependence among typical component seismic demands

This paper presents a copula technique to develop time-variant seismic fragility curves for corroded bridges at the system level and considers the realistic time-varying dependence among component seismic demands. Based on material deterioration mechanisms and incremental dynamic analysis, the time-evolving seismic demands of components were obtained in the form of marginal probability distributions. The time-varying dependences among bridge components were then captured with the best fitting copula function, which was selected from the commonly used copula classes by the empirical distribution based analysis method. The system time-variant fragility curves at different damage states were developed and the effects of time-varying dependences among components on the bridge system fragility were investigated. The results indicate the time-varying dependence among components significantly affects the time-variant fragility of the bridge system. The copula technique captures the nonlinear dependence among component seismic demands accurately and easily by separating the marginal distributions and the dependence among them.     

Effects of uncertain characteristic periods of ground motions on seismic vulnerabilities of a continuous track–bridge system of high-speed railway

The high-speed railway in China has to pass through the site surrounded by several known faults. Different earthquake mechanics of those faults and propagation paths cause different ground motions, including different peak ground accelerations (PGA), durations and characteristic periods, acting on the high-speed railway bridges. However, the previous seismic vulnerability analysis mainly aimed at the influence of PGA instead of characteristic periods on the seismic fragilities of bridge structure rather than track–bridge system. By taking a typical and common continuous bridge recommended in Chinese criterion as example, the effects of the uncertain characteristic periods of ground motions on the seismic responses and fragilities of track–bridge system were analyzed based on a numerical method. The results indicate that the probabilities exceeding any damage state of most components, including the bridge and track parts, increase with the characteristic period of ground motions. The uncertain characteristic periods of ground motions should be fully considered for the seismic design of track–bridge system, especially when the uncertain characteristic periods change around a small value. In the seismic vulnerability analysis, the uncertain of the designed characteristic period of ground motions should be developed by considering the different earthquake mechanics of several known faults surrounding the bridge site and the complex propagation paths of ground motion waves through different soils. Using a constant characteristic period of ground motions only considering the soil profile at the local site of bridge possibly leads to an unsafe result in the current criterion.     

Seismic fragility assessment of highway bridges using support vector machines

Seismic fragility curves provide a powerful tool to assess the reliability of structures. However, conventional fragility analysis of structures comprising a large number of components requires enormous computational efforts. In this paper, the application of probabilistic support vector machines (PSVM) for the system fragility analysis of existing structures is proposed. It is demonstrated that support vector machine based fragility curves provide accurate predictions compared to rigorous methodologies such as component based fragilities developed by Monte Carlo simulations. The proposed method is applied to an existing bridge structure in order to develop fragility curves for serviceability and collapse limit states. In addition, the efficiency of using the PSVM method in the application of vector-valued ground motion intensity measures (IM) as well as traditional single-valued IM are investigated. The results obtained from an incremental dynamic analysis of the structure are used to train PSVMs. The application of PSVM in binary and multi-class classifications is used for the fragility analysis and reliability assessment of the bridge structure.     

An earthquake-source-based metric for seismic fragility analysis

The seismic fragility of a system is the probability that the system enters a damage state under seismic ground motions with specified characteristics. Plots of the seismic fragilities with respect to scalar ground motion intensity measures are called fragility curves. Recent studies show that fragility curves may not be satisfactory measures for structural seismic performance, since scalar intensity measures cannot comprehensively characterize site seismicity. The limitations of traditional seismic intensity measures, e.g., peak ground acceleration or pseudo-spectral acceleration, are shown and discussed in detail. A bivariate vector with coordinates moment magnitude m and source-to-site distance r is proposed as an alternative seismic intensity measure. Implicitly, fragility surfaces in the (m, r)-space could be used as graphical representations of seismic fragility. Unlike fragility curves, which are functions of scalar intensity measures, fragility surfaces are characterized by two earthquake-hazard parameters, (m, r). The calculation of fragility surfaces may be computationally expensive for complex systems. Thus, as solutions to this issue, a bi-variate log-normal parametric model and an efficient calculation method, based on stochastic-reduced-order models, for fragility surfaces are proposed.     

斜交连续刚构桥桥墩地震易损性分析

以美国西部地区某斜交公路连续刚构桥为研究对象，研究其不等高墩易损性差异以及斜交角的改变对桥墩地震易损性的影响。考虑桥梁结构参数和地震动的不确定性，选取100条地震动，沿纵桥向输入，生成"结构-地震动"样本库，以地震动峰值加速度（PGA）为强度指标（IM），利用OpenSees软件对结构进行非线性时程分析得到桥墩动力响应，而后以桥墩曲率延性比衡量桥梁破坏状态，在确定桥墩损伤指标的基础上，采用可靠度理论得到各桥墩的地震易损性曲线，判断桥墩的损伤模式、损伤特点。在此基础上，改变桥梁斜交角度进行易损性分析，得到斜交角变化对桥墩地震易损性的影响。研究表明：该桥最矮墩发生损伤的概率大于其他桥墩，桥墩最先进入塑性的是墩顶和墩底区域；不同斜交角对桥墩的地震响应影响显著，各墩损伤破坏排序与斜交桥结构构造特点有关，同一排架墩的两侧墩柱易损性呈现与角度变化趋势相反的排列，损伤越严重，趋势越明显；对于此不等高的斜交刚构桥，最矮墩为其抗震薄弱环节，斜交角越大，越应该关注钝角处矮墩的损伤情况，并提高其设计标准，在进行斜交刚构桥抗震设计中应予以重视。     

Seismic risk assessment of liquid storage tanks via a nonlinear surrogate model

A performance‐based earthquake engineering approach is developed for the seismic risk assessment of fixed‐roof atmospheric steel liquid storage tanks. The proposed method is based on a surrogate single‐mass model that consists of elastic beam‐column elements and nonlinear springs. Appropriate component and system‐level damage states are defined, following the identification of commonly observed modes of failure that may occur during an earthquake. Incremental dynamic analysis and simplified cloud are offered as potential approaches to derive the distribution of response parameters given the seismic intensity. A parametric investigation that engages the aforementioned analysis methods is conducted on 3 tanks of varying geometry, considering both anchored and unanchored support conditions. Special attention is paid to the elephant's foot buckling formation, by offering extensive information on its capacity and demand representation within the seismic risk assessment process. Seismic fragility curves are initially extracted for the component‐level damage states, to compare the effect of each analysis approach on the estimated performance. The subsequent generation of system‐level fragility curves reveals the issue of nonsequential damage states, whereby significant damage may abruptly appear without precursory lighter damage states.     

高强钢筋ECC-RC复合桥梁地震易损性分析

考虑高强钢筋、ECC等高性能材料在桥梁工程中的推广应用,针对普通钢筋混凝土桥墩抗震性能相对较差的情况,研究高强钢筋ECC-RC复合桥墩的桥梁抗震性能。通过OpenSees平台建立普通RC桥墩桥梁、ECC-RC复合桥墩桥梁及高强钢筋ECC-RC复合桥墩桥梁非线性有限元模型,采用增量动力法和"能力需求比"分析方法建立桥梁各构件及系统的地震易损性曲线,探讨高强钢筋及ECC对桥梁抗震性能的影响。研究表明:ECC-RC、高强钢筋ECC-RC复合桥墩及其桥梁系统的地震易损性均有改善,且高强钢筋ECC的改善效果更显著,高强钢筋ECC-RC复合桥墩支座的地震易损性有所降低,高强钢筋及ECC的应用有助于提高桥墩和桥梁系统抗震性能和安全性,特别是在中震及大震作用下这一现象更加明显。     

Analytical seismic fragility functions for highway and railway embankments and cuts

A fundamental tool in seismic risk assessment of transportation systems is the fragility curve, which describes the probability that a structure will reach or exceed a certain damage state for a given ground motion intensity. Fragility curves are usually represented by two‐parameter (median and log‐standard deviation) cumulative lognormal distributions. In this paper, a numerical approach, in the spirit of the IDA, is applied for the development of fragility curves for highways and railways on embankments and in cuts due to seismic shaking. The response of the geo‐construction to increasing levels of seismic intensity is evaluated using a 2D nonlinear finite element model, with an elasto‐plastic criterion to simulate the soil behavior. A calibration procedure is followed in order to account for the dependency of both the stiffness and the damping to the soil strain level. The effect of soil conditions and ground motion characteristics on the response of the embankment and cut is taken into account considering different typical soil profiles and seismic input motions. This study will provide input for the assessment of the vulnerability of the road/railway network regarding the performance of the embankments and cuts; therefore, the level of damage is described in terms of the permanent ground displacement in these structures. The fragility curves are estimated based on the evolution of damage with increasing earthquake intensity, which is described by PGA. The proposed approach allows the evaluation of new fragility curves considering the distinctive features of the element's geometry, the input motion, and the soil properties as well as the associated uncertainties. A relationship between the computed permanent ground displacement on the surface of the embankment and the PGA in the free field is also suggested based on the results of the numerical analyses. Finally, the proposed fragility curves are compared with existing empirical data and the limitations of their applicability are outlined. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于高斯过程模型的桥梁时变系统地震易损性分析

桥梁在长期服役过程中面临的氯离子侵蚀作用会导致材料性能退化,进而影响桥梁结构的抗震性能。准确评估服役桥梁的抗震性能可以有效保障和提高桥梁结构的安全性,因此开展考虑时变效应的桥梁地震易损性分析非常必要。考虑到地震易损性分析涉及大量的动力时程分析,计算效率很低,故采用高斯过程模型取代耗时的动力时程分析,旨在提高地震易损性分析效率。以一座三跨连续梁桥为例,探究氯离子侵蚀作用下桥墩材料性能的退化规律,建立纵筋、箍筋以及保护层和核心混凝土材料性能退化时变曲线;基于高斯过程模型和联合概率地震需求模型,建立桥梁系统在不同服役年限下的易损性曲线和曲面。结果表明：(1)氯离子侵蚀作用明显降低了桥墩钢筋混凝土材料的强度;(2)氯离子侵蚀作用明显提高了高等级损伤的桥梁地震易损性,结构更容易发生高等级损伤。     

隔震与非隔震支座对混凝土箱梁桥地震易损性的影响

为评估隔震和非隔震支座对桥梁地震易损性的影响,以一座3跨连续混凝土箱梁桥为分析对象,首先建立采用铅芯橡胶隔震支座与非隔震型盆式橡胶支座下桥梁的数值模型,求得不同程度地震作用下墩顶与支座的最大位移响应;再定义转角延性比损伤指标,结合支座剪应变,分析桥墩和支座的地震易损性情况;最后通过宽界限法建立全桥地震易损性曲线。研究结果表明,支座是较容易发生损坏的构件,而桥梁系统比桥墩或支座更易发生破坏,同时铅芯橡胶支座的破坏概率明显低于非隔震型盆式支座,可见采用隔震支座能有效减小桥墩墩顶在地震作用下的最大位移,此时桥墩地震易损性优于采用非隔震支座的情况。     

Aftershock collapse fragility curves for non‐ductile RC buildings: a scenario‐based assessment

Recent studies have addressed the computation of fragility curves for mainshock (MS)‐damaged buildings. However, aftershock (AS) fragilities are generally conditioned on a range of potential post‐MS damage states that are simulated via static or dynamic analyses performed on an intact building. Moreover, there are very few cases where the behavior of non‐ductile reinforced concrete buildings is analyzed. This paper presents an evaluation of AS collapse fragility conditioned on various return periods of MSs, allowing for the rapid assessment of post‐earthquake safety variations based solely on the intensity of the damaging earthquake event. A refined multi‐degree‐of‐freedom model of a seven‐storey non‐ductile building, which includes brittle failure simulations and the evaluation of a system level collapse, is adopted. Aftershock fragilities are obtained by performing an incremental dynamic analysis for a number of MS–AS ground motion sequences and a variety of MS intensities. The AS fragilities show that the probability of collapse significantly increases for higher return periods for the MS. However, this result is mainly ascribable to collapses occurred during MSs. When collapse cases that occur during a MS are not considered in the assessment of AS collapse probability, a smaller shift in the fragility curves is observed as the MS intensity increases. This result is justified considering the type of model and collapse modes introduced, which strongly depend on the brittle behavior of columns failing in shear or due to axial loads. The analysis of damage that is due to MSs when varying the return period confirms this observation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.