TY - JOUR
T1 - Seismic performance of bridges with rubber bearings
T2 - Lessons learnt from the 1999 Chi-Chi Taiwan earthquake
AU - Lu, Chih Hung
AU - Liu, Kuang Yen
AU - Chang, Kuo Chun
N1 - Funding Information:
The study reported here was funded in part by the National Science Council of Taiwan under grant number NSC95-2625-Z-002-029 and the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering Research (NCREE) of Taiwan. Use of facilities and technical support from the NCREE are also gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2011/10
Y1 - 2011/10
N2 - In 1999, the Chi-Chi earthquake caused tremendous loss in infrastructure systems and caused severe damage to bridge structures. However, a large number of bridges experienced only minor damage and there has been little discussion of the performance of those bridges. This study is to discuss the damage to bridge bearing systems based on field investigations and numerical analyses. This article draws a qualitative description of the performance and the failure modes of highway bridges during the Chi-Chi earthquake. It is concluded that the sliding mechanism of rubber bearings played an important role in limiting the seismic load transmitted to the bridge columns. In order to demonstrate this phenomenon, a nonlinear finite element model of the Yen-Feng bridge was developed to simulate its seismic performance during the Chi-Chi earthquake. The analytical results were compared with the observed damage. Parametric studies were then conducted by utilizing two kinds of bearing conditions and three friction coefficients on the rubber bearings to explain why similar bridges experienced different levels of damage during the earthquake.
AB - In 1999, the Chi-Chi earthquake caused tremendous loss in infrastructure systems and caused severe damage to bridge structures. However, a large number of bridges experienced only minor damage and there has been little discussion of the performance of those bridges. This study is to discuss the damage to bridge bearing systems based on field investigations and numerical analyses. This article draws a qualitative description of the performance and the failure modes of highway bridges during the Chi-Chi earthquake. It is concluded that the sliding mechanism of rubber bearings played an important role in limiting the seismic load transmitted to the bridge columns. In order to demonstrate this phenomenon, a nonlinear finite element model of the Yen-Feng bridge was developed to simulate its seismic performance during the Chi-Chi earthquake. The analytical results were compared with the observed damage. Parametric studies were then conducted by utilizing two kinds of bearing conditions and three friction coefficients on the rubber bearings to explain why similar bridges experienced different levels of damage during the earthquake.
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U2 - 10.1080/02533839.2011.591920
DO - 10.1080/02533839.2011.591920
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84863006227
SN - 0253-3839
VL - 34
SP - 889
EP - 904
JO - Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Transactions of the Chinese Institute of Engineers,Series A
JF - Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Transactions of the Chinese Institute of Engineers,Series A
IS - 7
ER -