Evaluation of failure characteristics, lateral strength and ductility of RC bridge pier wall with low longitudinal reinforcement ratio

Abstract

It was observed that some RC bridge columns with low longitudinal reinforcement ratio were damaged during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The seismic performance of RC bridge pier wall with low longitudinal reinforcement ratio is still not fully understood although few experimental works were conducted previously. In this research, the failure mechanism of RC bridge pier wall was clarified based on the cyclic loading tests for scaled-model pier walls and the effect of reinforced concrete jacketing for the seismic retrofit was also examined. The test results showed that the ductility of RC bridge pier wall with low longitudinal reinforcement ratio was not improved by reinforced concrete jacketing for strengthening without anchoring the additional longitudinal steel bars into the footing.