Seismic Fragility Functions of Bridge Pylons: Effects of Rayleigh-Surface Waves

EasyChair Preprint no. 7436

Abstract

The quantification of the effects of surface waves on the seismic vulnerability of structures becomes relevant, especially in sedimentary basins, which tend to generate or amplify surface wave components carried by the seismic signals. Long-period large-scale infrastructures (e.g., high-rise buildings, bridges, liquid storage tanks) located on sedimentary basins may experience amplified seismic motions due to significant surface-wave content characterized by long periods and long durations. This work proposes a strategy to quantify the effects of Rayleigh waves on seismic vulnerability assessment of bridge pylons by calculating analytical fragility curves as a function of peak ground velocity (PGV). The fragility curves of bridge pylons are obtained based on nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses on several simplified pylon mechanical models. The nonlinear analyses use a set of seismic records, in which the surface wave component can be considered or not, to quantify the additional seismic demand induced by surface waves. Based on relevant bridge pylon engineering demand parameters, four damage states are defined (slight, moderate, extensive, and collapse). This study allows quantifying the shift in a reference fragility curve (defined in terms of body waves only) for each damage state due to the incidence of Rayleigh waves.

Keyphrases: bridge pylons, Fragility Analysis, surface waves, vulnerability assessment

@Booklet{EasyChair:7436,
  author = {Carolina Franco and Yaël Perraud and Charisis T Chatzigogos},
  title = {Seismic Fragility Functions of Bridge Pylons: Effects of Rayleigh-Surface Waves},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 7436},

  year = {EasyChair, 2022}}