Relationship between magnitude of applied seismic acceleration and extent of damage to steel thin-walled bridge piers due to local buckling

Abstract

In this study, elasto-plastic and dynamic response analysis is carried out to investigate the influence of applied seismic acceleration and the flexural rigidity of longitudinal stiffeners onto damage to steel bridge piers having single thin-walled box columns and the relationships between the extent of the damage and the limit states, such as serviceability limit, repairable limit and ultimate limit of the bridge piers. Firstly, a method for estimating the proper flexural rigidity of longitudinal stiffeners is dealt with. Secondly, a parametric analysis is carried out by varying types of the seismic acceleration waves and the flexural rigidity of longitudinal stiffeners in order to investigate the definition of the limit states.