Shake-table tests and numerical simulation of an innovative isolation system for highway bridges

Damage investigation of small to medium-span highway bridges in Wenchuan earthquake revealed that typical damage of these bridges included: sliding between laminated-rubber bearings and bridge girders, concrete shear keys failure, excessive girder displacements and even span collapse. However, the bearing sliding could actually act as a seismic isolation for piers, and hence, damage to piers for these bridges was minor during the earthquake. Based on this concept, an innovative solation system for highway bridges with laminated-rubber bearings is developed. The system is comprised of typical laminated-rubber bearings and steel dampers. Bearing sliding is allowed during an earthquake to limit the seismic forces transmitting to piers, and steel dampers are applied to restrict the bearing displacements through hysteretic energy dissipation. As a major part of this research, a quarter-scale, two-span bridge model was constructed and tested on the shake tables to evaluate the performance of this isolation system. The bridge model was subjected to a Northridge and an artificial ground motion in transverse direction. Moreover, numerical analyses were conducted to investigate the seismic performance of the bridge model. Besides the test bridge model, a benchmark model with the superstructure fixed to the substructure in transverse direction was also included in the numerical analyses. Both the experimental and the numerical results showed high effectiveness of this proposed isolation system in the bridge model. The system was found to effectively control the pier-girder relative displacements, and simultaneously, protect the piers from severe damage. Numerical analyses also validated that the existing finite element methods are adequate to estimate the seismic response of bridges with this isolation system.     

地震作用下曲线梁桥结构响应及敏感性分析

为研究不同设计参数对曲线梁桥地震响应的影响以指导结构抗震设计,对不同支承约束曲线梁桥地震响应及地震需求敏感性进行分析。采用增量动力分析（IDA）方法对比分析了不同支承约束曲线梁桥的结构地震响应变化趋势;采用Tornado图形法对不同结构参数影响程度进行了排序,找出了对结构地震需求影响显著的参数。结果表明:采用板式橡胶支座桥梁因支座易发生滑移而导致上部结构位移较大,但降低了下部结构响应,设置固定墩后,下部结构损伤显著增加;对于采用板式橡胶支座和铅芯橡胶支座的曲线梁桥,墩高及跨径对墩底曲率需求影响较大,而对于固定墩为墩梁固结形式和采用盆式橡胶支座的曲线梁桥,跨径及跨数对墩底曲率需求影响较大;对于采用不同支承约束的曲线梁桥,墩高和曲率半径对桥台位移需求影响较大,仅次于地震动参数PGA。     

采用板式橡胶支座的连续斜梁桥横向抗震行为研究

为了提高采用板式橡胶支座的斜梁桥横向抗震能力,揭示其在不同设计参数下的横向抗震行为,考虑板式橡胶支座的滑移、钢筋混凝土挡块的滞回力学性能、桥台-背土效应等非线性因素,采用OpenSEES建立某连续斜梁桥的三维分析模型,提出支座位移评价指标、主梁平面转角指标、墩柱曲率延性指标和抗剪指标,研究不同挡块强度和间隙组合下桥梁的横向抗震性能。研究表明:同时增大挡块强度和间隙,总体上会降低支座的横向变形,但会增加其纵向变形;挡块强度越高,主梁的横向位移有所下降,但平面转角越大,对两侧桥台处的支座抗剪越不利;挡块强度越高,间隙越小,墩柱越有可能进入弹塑性状态。在本文桥例中,当挡块强度取40%支反力,间隙取0.08m时,所有抗震指标都可满足规范要求。     

基于损伤分析的旧曲线梁桥抗震性能评估

曲线桥梁在役期间可能面临地震灾害,导致结构损坏甚至坍塌,为了评估在役桥梁的抗震性能,提出基于损伤分析的曲线梁桥抗震性能评估方法。建立旧曲线梁桥有限元模型,基于损伤分析的原理,提出适合曲线梁桥地震响应特性的构件损伤模型,在全桥有限元模型中输入不同类型地震动,计算各构件的损伤指数,并结合旧桥检算系数,由各构件损伤指数综合得到桥梁的整体损伤指数。结果表明:不同地震动下主梁会发生碰撞破坏,桥梁两端的支座容易发生移位,桥墩沿横桥向或顺桥向均会产生位移;不同地震动对主梁、支座、桥墩等构件造成的损害程度有较大差异,各构件的地震响应会影响桥梁整体结构的抗震性能,其中桥墩对桥梁整体抗震性能的影响最大,桥墩位移超过极限值可能导致倒塌;主梁反复碰撞会加剧桥梁的破坏程度,桥梁两端支座在地震作用下更容易发生损坏。     

大跨度斜拉桥横桥向减震研究

斜拉桥在横桥向采用塔-梁、墩-梁固结的约束体系,导致其整体刚度增加,地震惯性力增大,给边墩及其基础的抗震设计造成困难。分别采用位移相关型(方案1)和速度相关型(方案2)两类减震装置对一座斜拉桥的横桥向进行了减震研究。方案1在边墩-主梁间设置位移相关型减震装置,并对其屈服荷载进行了参数分析;方案2对速度相关型减震装置的安装位置和数量进行了优化分析,并对其参数取值进行了参数分析;对横桥向固结体系和减震体系的地震反应进行了对比。结果表明:地震作用下两类减震装置发生滞回变形,延长了结构在横桥向的周期,有效降低了边墩的地震剪力和弯矩反应;横桥向墩-梁间的相对位移会增大,可通过减震装置参数的选取将其控制在合理的范围内;塔底的地震剪力和弯矩反应变化不明显。2种方案均可用于斜拉桥横向减震。     

不同约束方式对匝道桥动力特性的影响研究

近年来,地震作用下的匝道桥表现出较高的地震易损性。为建立匝道桥的有效约束方式,以减小其地震损伤,本文基于汶川地震中连续梁桥约束方式的调研结果,建立了4种不同匝道桥支座约束方式,并以石家庄石环线某匝道桥为例,对比分析了不同约束方式下匝道桥的自振特性及地震响应。结果表明:板式橡胶支座具有一定的剪切变形能力,可降低桥墩与支座组成的体系刚度,有效分散了上部结构的地震惯性力,保护了下部结构,但应注意其引起的较大主梁位移;固定支座或墩梁固结形式会放大桥墩受力,增加下部结构的损坏,不宜设置在高度较矮、刚度较大的桥墩上;双层挡块和垫石凹槽分级限位支座具有较好的限位能力,并可耗散部分地震能量。     

公民科学素质视角下的防震减灾科普研究——以日本和美国为例

防震减灾科普教育是提升公民防震减灾科学素质的重要途经。日本和美国是在防震减灾科普教育方面走在世界前列的国家。本文通过研究日本和美国关于公民防震减灾科学素质建设文献资料,分类归纳日本和美国公民防震减灾科学素质建设的历史背景、发展特点及主要路径,由此对我国公民防震减灾科学素质建设提出思考和建议。     

Design formulations for supplemental viscous dampers to highway bridges

Design formulas for supplemental viscous dampers to building structures are readily available in FEMA provisions and MCEER research reports. However, for the design of supplemental viscous dampers corresponding to a desired system damping ratio of highway bridges, there exist, if any, few design guidelines. This is particularly true if the bridge components such as elastomeric bearings, piers and abutment possess different damping ratios, stiffnesses, and lumped masses. In this paper, the design formulas for supplemental viscous dampers to highway bridges have been derived based on the concept of ‘composite damping ratio’. The design formulas can be used to determine the damping coefficients of the dampers corresponding to a desired system damping ratio of the bridge in which different component damping ratios may be assumed for the elastomeric bearings, piers and abutments. The proposed design formulas are numerically validated by comparing the seismic responses of a three‐span bridge equipped with viscous dampers with those of the same bridge without viscous dampers but with an assigned inherent system damping ratio equal to the target system damping ratio. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic damage of highway bridges during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Many highway bridges were severely damaged or completely collapsed during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.A field investigation was carried out in the strongly affected areas and over 320 bridges were examined. Damage to some representative highway bridges is briefly described and a preliminary analysis of the probable causes of the damage is presented in this paper. The most common damage included shear-flexural failure of the pier columns, expansion joint failure, shear key failure, and girder sliding in the transversal or longitudinal directions due to weak connections between girder and bearings. Lessons learned from this earthquake are described and recommendations related to the design of curved and skewed bridges, design of bearings and devices to prevent girder collapse, and ductility of bridge piers are presented.Suggestions for future seismic design and retrofitting techniques for bridges in moderate to severe earthquake areas are also proposed.     

基于黏滞液体阻尼器的铁路钢桁梁桥减震研究

以某高墩大跨度铁路简支钢桁梁桥为实际工程背景,研究了黏滞液体阻尼器对结构纵向抗震性能的影响.采用非线性时程分析方法,对黏滞液体阻尼器的相关参数及布置位置进行了优化分析.分析结果表明:合理选择黏滞液体阻尼器的布置位置、个数及阻尼参数,高墩大跨铁路简支钢桁梁桥具有明显的减震效果.     

高烈度区大跨度桥梁粘滞阻尼器减震研究

高烈度地震对铁路桥梁安全造成巨大隐患,且次生灾害将引起较大经济损失。该大跨连续梁桥所处地震带正进入活跃期,未来有发生较大规模强烈地震的可能,但桥梁自身不具备高烈度抗震能力,需利用粘滞阻尼器对其进行减震处理。采用斜向设置阻尼器并配合双曲面球型支座,来控制可能发生的纵向和横向地震。通过数值模拟进行阻尼器参数敏感性分析以及减震效果讨论,进而确定其最优设置方案。选取相关参数作为评价指标,对比加设阻尼器前后易损部位的地震响应,确定其在高烈度地震荷载激励下的减震效果。研究结果表明:在液体粘滞阻尼器的作用下,使得各墩协同受力,大大增加了结构的整体性,同时能很好弥补减隔震支座不能很好的控制上部结构位移的缺点,同时能降低罕遇地震力对桥墩的冲击损伤。因此,在高烈度区大跨度桥梁中更有必要设置阻尼器来抗震。     

Study of the seismic performance of expansion double spherical seismic isolation bearings for continuous girder bridges

The development of an expansion double spherical seismic isolation (DSSI) bearing by modifying the fixed DSSI bearing is described in this paper.The expansion DSSI bearing is characterized by its good ...     

Seismic performance of highway bridges with fusing bearing components for quasi‐isolation

Modern highway bridges in Illinois are often installed with economical elastomeric bearings that allow for thermal movement of the superstructure, and steel fixed bearings and transverse retainers that prevent excessive movement from service‐level loadings. In the event of an earthquake, the bearing system has the potential to provide a quasi‐isolated response where failure of sacrificial elements and sliding of the bearings can cause a period elongation and reduce or cap the force demands on the substructure. A computational model that has been calibrated for the expected nonlinear behaviors is used to carry out a parametric study to evaluate quasi‐isolated bridge behavior. The study investigates different superstructure types, substructure types, substructure heights, foundation types, and elastomeric bearing types. Overall, only a few bridge variants were noted to unseat for design‐level seismic input in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, indicating that most structures in Illinois would not experience severe damage during their typical design life. However, Type II bearing systems, which consist of an elastomeric bearing and a flat PTFE slider, would in some cases result in critical damage from unseating at moderate and high seismic input. The sequence of damage for many bridge cases indicates yielding of piers at low‐level seismic input. This is caused by the high strength of the fixed bearing element, which justifies further calibration of the quasi‐isolation design approach. Finally, the type of ground motion, pier height, and bearing type were noted to have significant influence on the global bridge response. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

爬移状态对服役曲线梁桥抗震性能影响分析

服役曲线梁桥常存在爬移病害。为探讨爬移病害程度对曲线梁桥抗震性能的影响规律,通过总结服役曲线梁桥爬移病害,确定以不同梁端爬移位移量作为描述服役曲线梁桥爬移状态的对比分析工况,并以一座三跨预应力混凝土曲线梁桥为例,采用MIDAS Civil建立有限元模型,考虑桩-土相互作用、双向碰撞效应及材料非线性,分析曲线梁桥支座及桥墩等主要受力构件地震响应规律,探讨爬移状态对服役曲线梁桥抗震性能影响。研究结果表明：主梁的爬移病害对桥梁的抗震性能会产生不利影响,会导致支座位移的增长,增加支座破坏的风险,从而增加桥梁上部结构碰撞效应及落梁风险;随着爬移位移的增加,桥墩的损伤状态可能由爬移前的无损伤转变为考虑爬移后的严重损伤状态。因此,在进行服役曲线梁桥抗震性能评估时应量化其爬移状态,并采用合理的措施对主梁的爬移进行限制。     

The eigenvalues of isolated bridges with transverse restraints at the end abutments

This paper examines the eigenvalues of multi‐span seismically isolated bridges in which the transverse displacement of the deck at the end abutments is restricted. With this constraint the deck is fully isolated along the longitudinal direction, whereas along the transverse direction the deck is a simple‐supported beam at the end abutments which enjoys concentrated restoring forces from the isolation bearings at the center piers. For moderate long bridges, the first natural period of the bridge is the first longitudinal period, while the first transverse period is the second period, given that the flexural rigidity of the deck along the transverse direction shortens the isolation period offered by the bearings in that direction. This paper shows that for isolated bridges longer than a certain critical length, the first transverse period becomes longer than the first longitudinal period despite the presence of the flexural rigidity of the deck. This critical length depends on whether the bridge is isolated on elastomeric bearings or on spherical sliding bearings. This result is also predicted with established commercially available numerical codes only when several additional nodes are added along the beam elements which are modeling the deck in‐between the bridge piers. On the other hand, this result cannot be captured with the limiting idealization of a beam on continuous distributed springs (beam on Wrinkler foundation)—a finding that has practical significance in design and system identification studies. Finally, the paper shows that the normalized transverse eigenperiods of any finite‐span deck are self‐similar solutions that can be represented by a single master curve and are independent of the longitudinal isolation period or on whether the deck is supported on elastomeric or spherical sliding bearings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling of shear keys in bridge structures under seismic loads

Shear keys are used in the bridge abutments and piers to provide transverse restraints for bridge superstructures. Owing to the relatively small dimensions compared to the main bridge components (girders, piers, abutments, piles), shear keys are normally regarded as secondary component of a bridge structure, and their influences on bridge seismic responses are normally neglected. In reality, shear keys are designed to restrain the lateral displacements of bridge girders, which will affect the transverse response of the bridge deck, thus influence the overall structural responses. To study the influences of shear keys on bridge responses to seismic ground excitations, this paper performs numerical simulations of the seismic responses of a two-span simply-supported bridge model without or with shear keys in the abutments and the central pier. A detailed 3D finite element (FE) model is developed by using the explicit FE code LS-DYNA. The bridge components including bridge girders, piers, abutments, bearings, shear keys and reinforcement bars are included in the model. The non-linear material behaviour including the strain rate effects of concrete and steel rebar are considered. The seismic responses of bridge structures without and with shear keys subjected to bi-axial spatially varying horizontal ground motions are calculated and compared. The failure mode and damage mechanism of shear keys are discussed in detail. Numerical results show that shear keys restrain transverse movements of bridge decks, which influence the torsional–lateral responses of the decks under bi-axial spatially varying ground excitations; neglecting shear keys in bridge response analysis may lead to inaccurate predictions of seismic responses of bridge structures.     

Semi‐active control of sliding isolated bridges using MR dampers: an experimental and numerical study

Sliding base‐isolation systems used in bridges reduce pier drifts, but at the expense of increased bearing displacements under near‐source pulse‐type earthquakes. It is common practice to incorporate supplemental passive non‐linear dampers into the isolation system to counter increased bearing displacements. Non‐linear passive dampers can certainly reduce bearing displacements, but only with increased isolation level forces and pier drifts. The semi‐active controllable non‐linear dampers, which can vary damping in real time, can reduce bearing displacements without further increase in forces and pier drifts; and hence deserve investigation. In this study performance of such a ‘smart’ sliding isolation system, used in a 1:20 scaled bridge model, employing semi‐active controllable magneto‐rheological (MR) dampers is investigated, analytically and experimentally, under several near‐fault earthquakes. A non‐linear analytical model, which incorporates the non‐linearities of sliding bearings and the MR damper, is developed. A Lyapunov control algorithm for control of the MR damper is developed and implemented in shake table tests. Analytical and shake table test results are compared. It is shown that the smart MR damper reduces bearing displacements further than the passive low‐ and high‐damping cases, while maintaining isolation level forces less than the passive high‐damping case. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

斜拉桥结构减震设计优化研究

位于中强以上地震烈度区的大跨斜拉桥结构,如果采用传统的抗震设计方法,通常很难满足结构的抗震设计要求,因此采取一定的减震措施显得非常必要。本文以某一总长为2 088m的大跨双塔双索面斜拉桥为分析算例,对斜拉桥结构的减震设计进行了研究。合理的减震结构体系是取得良好减震效果的前提,通过分析对比,该大跨斜拉桥横向采用局部减震体系最为合理,即只在近塔辅助墩处设置横向粘滞阻尼器,其它塔、墩处采用常规的横向约束方案。为使减震结构得到更好的减震效果,还应对减震装置参数进行优化设计。由于采取了合理的减震结构体系、较优的减震装置参数,使该大跨斜拉桥取得了很好的减震设计效果。     

Effect of mechanical degradation of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys upon seismic behaviors of small-to-medium-span highway bridges in transverse direction

Laminated elastomeric bearings have been widely used for small-to-medium-span highway bridges in China, in which concrete shear keys are set transversely to prohibit large girder displacement. To evaluate bridge seismic responses more accurately, proper analytical models of bearings and shear keys should be developed. Based on a series of cyclic loading experiments and analyses, rational analytical models of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys, which can consider mechanical degradation, were developed. The effect of the mechanical degradation was investigated by examining the seismic response of a small-to-medium-span bridge in the transverse direction under a wide range of peak ground accelerations (PGA). The damage mechanism for small-to-medium-span highway bridges was determined, which can explain the seismic damage investigation during earthquakes in recent years. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of laminated elastomeric bearings will degrade due to friction sliding, but the degree of decrease is dependent upon the influencing parameters. It can be concluded that the mechanical degradation of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys play an important role in the seismic response of bridges. The degradation of mechanical properties of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys should be included to evaluate more precise bridge seismic performance.     

Seismic performance of cable-sliding friction bearing system for isolated bridges

During past strong earthquakes, highway bridges have sustained severe damage or even collapse due to excessive displacements and/or very large lateral forces. For commonly used isolation bearings with a pure friction sliding surface, seismic forces may be reduced but displacements are often unconstrained. In this paper, an alternative seismic bearing system, called the cable-sliding friction bearing system, is developed by integrating seismic isolation devices with displacement restrainers consisting of cables attached to the upper and lower plates of the bearing. Restoring forces are provided to limit the displacements of the sliding component. Design parameters including the length and stiffness of the cables, friction coefficient, strength of the shear bolt in a fixed-type bearing, and movements under earthquake excitations are discussed. Laboratory testing of a prototype bearing subjected to vertical loads and quasi-static cyclic lateral loads, and corresponding numerical finite element simulation analysis, were carried out. It is shown that the numerical simulation shows good agreement with the experimental force-displacement hysteretic response, indicating the viability of the new bearing system. In addition, practical application of this bearing system to a multi-span bridge in China and its design advantages are discussed.