Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Seismic Performance of Bridge Columns with High-Strength Reinforcement and Concrete

Despite the numerous advantages high-strength reinforcement (HSR) and high-strength concrete (HSC) offer over conventional materials, the practical use of these materials for bridge column design in seismic zones has somewhat been limited. This is due to the insufficient research data and guidelines for the seismic design of bridges using HSC and HSR and the lack of a reliable analytical model. Therefore, to address this issue and promote the application of HSR and HSC, this paper investigates high-strength bridge columns’ seismic performance experimentally and numerically. Six large-scale reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns and one multi-column bent frame were tested under a quasi-static cyclic loading with constant axial compression. The primary design parameters were axial load ratio, longitudinal and transverse reinforcement yield strength, and transverse reinforcement spacing. The failure pattern of high-strength columns was similar to conventional RC columns and satisfied the requirements for seismic design in terms of failure mode, hysteresis behavior, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity. The experimental ductility values of the high-strength columns were satisfactory and capable of meeting the ductility demand of most codes. Furthermore, a numerical model was built using the OpenSees program to predict the seismic performance of the specimens and then verified by comparing them with the test results of 12 columns. The numerical model’s results were in good agreement with the experimental results. The results suggested that numerical modeling techniques commonly used for normal strength concrete (NSC) columns can be used for HSC bridge columns by incorporating a proper material model.