Analytical Evaluation of Retrofit Strategies for Multicolumn Bridges

Abstract

The objective of the work of this paper was to investigate analytically the feasibility and advantages of applying various combinations of steel jacket retrofit measures developed for single-column bent bridges to multicolumn bent bridges. To achieve the objective, an existing nonlinear dynamic bridge analysis program with elastic–perfectly plastic column behavior and a conventional hysteresis model was modified in order to include softening behavior from column damage and a more realistic hysteresis rule for cyclic loading. A 2D structural model of an actual bridge was used to evaluate column retrofitting measures by applying a typical seismic record. Both partial and full column retrofit strategies were shown to result in decreased maximum earthquake response and decreased plastic deformation of columns for the bridge bent compared to the case without retrofitting, but to varying degrees. However, for some partial retrofit strategies, the plastic hinge rotation at the unretrofitted columns was deemed to be unacceptable. Therefore, it was concluded that partial column retrofit strategies are viable only if combined with an evaluation of the ductility capacity of the bridge.