Seismic response behavior of bridges equipped with steel bellows dampers and bearing displacement restraints allowing plastic deformation

Abstract

To enhance the seismic safety of bridge structures, steel bellows-type dampers were developed by the authors and their effectiveness confirmed through experiments and FEM analysis. This study analytically investigates bridge seismic performance equipped with both bellows-type dampers and bearing displacement restraints that allow plastic deformation. Non-linear time-history analyses show that the system prevents force concentration on bearings, controls superstructure displacement within joint gaps to reduce collision risk. The results also show that this combined system effectively reduces large upward forces under Level 2 earthquakes, demonstrating the validity of the proposed design method.