Probabilistic Assessment of RC Piers Considering Vertical Seismic Excitation Based on Damage Indices

Abstract

Bridges play a vital role in highway transportation systems and damage to bridges may cause impaired emergency response and economic loss and interrupt the functionality of the systems. Damage to bridge during the last earthquakes shows that considering the effects of the vertical component of earthquakes in seismic damage assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) piers is of great importance. This paper aims to assess the probability of damage to RC columns under the simultaneous effect of three earthquake components. For this purpose, two damage indices including strain and curvature ductility have been used and the fragility curves of RC columns have been developed with Probabilistic Seismic Demand Models (PSDM) under a series of ground motion records. Moreover, the variation of axial force, bending moment, and shear force have been investigated. The results show that considering the vertical excitation may increase the probability of different damage states of RC columns, particularly in higher damage states.