Strength Degradation Model for Seismic Retaining Blocks on Bridges in High-intensity Earthquake Regions
As important load-bearing members on bridges in high-intensity earthquake regions,reinforced concrete seismic retaining blocks are often the first to be severely damaged during an earthquake.However,neither a seismic design method nor an associated analysis model for such blocks has been provided in the current code.Therefore,the damage mechanism of the diagonal section of a reinforced concrete seismic retaining block was employed to derive the strength formulas for three types of blocks considering the residual tensile strength of concrete and the coordination of steel deformation.Based on the rigid body rotation equation of equilibrium,a double-line degradation model of block strength was subsequently established using the energy equivalence principle.Taking a medium-span girder bridge near a fault in the ninth-degree earthquake intensity region as an example,the double-line degradation of block strength was simulated using a shear hinge model to explore the influence of block bearing capacity on the seismic demand applied to the bridge piers.The results show that the proposed block strength formula and strength degradation model can accurately predict the mechanical characteristics of the block(with an average error of less than 5%)and that the shear hinge model can reasonably simulate its damage behavior.On the one hand,failing to consider the influence of the block collision effect under intense earthquakes will underestimate the seismic demand on the piers,leading to an unsafe design.On the other hand,considering the rigid block collision without accounting for the decrease in block bearing capacity will overestimate the seismic demand on the pier,resulting in unnecessary waste.Indeed,the results indicate that the influence of the retaining block is not restricted to its limitation of the lateral displacement of the bridge beam;damage to the block also consumes the seismic forces generated in the superstructure to a certain extent.Therefore,the proposed strength degradation model should be applied to determine the influence of the collision force between the bridge beam and block on the seismic demand applied to the bridge piers.In summary,the proposed retaining block strength degradation model and simulation method can be used for the seismic design of medium-span girder bridges in ninth-degree earthquake intensity regions.
bridge engineeringstrength degradation modelshear failure mechanismanti-seismic retaining blocksliding effect of laminated bearingsninth-degree intensity region