Rehabilitation of Severely Damaged RC Bridge Piers: Experimental and Numerical Investigation

ABSTRACT

This study explored rehabilitation of severely damaged bridge pier models using reinforced concrete jacketing method adopting a plastic hinge relocation technique. The test specimens were tested under cyclic loading. The important seismic performance parameters were evaluated for the rehabilitated specimen. A 3D finite element model was simulated considering concrete-rebar interaction and jacket-pier interface shear. Calibration of the numerically simulated model was done by comparing with experimentally observed responses. Additionally, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of shear connectors on performance of the rehabilitated test specimen.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Rehabilitation of severely damaged scaled bridge pier model by RC jacketing following a systematically adopted step-by-step procedure.

• Shifting of plastic hinge location from the pier-foundation interface.

• Calibration of numerical model of RC jacketed pier incorporating concrete-rebar interaction and jacket-pier interface shear by comparing with experimentally observed responses.

• A parametric study to investigate the effect of shear connectors on the performance of RC jacketed bridge pier model.

KEYWORDS:

• Bridge pier
• rehabilitation
• plastic hinge relocation
• RC jacketing
• finite element modelling

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Anjan Dutta, upon reasonable request.