Abstract
This paper depicts the study of seismic analysis of reinforced concrete bridge piers as per provisions of Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines. Bridges are designed having two main structural elements named – “Superstructure” and “Substructure”. Superstructure consists of deck and supporting girder/truss system below deck. Substructure includes Abutments, Piers, Portals and Foundations. Amongst these, Abutments/Piers are crucial part of bridge. Therefore, as per the seismic design philosophy, it is necessary to study the seismic behaviour of bridge piers. With the advancements in technology and subsequent researches in Infrastructure fields, IRC guidelines are updated and revised time-to-time. Introduction of IRC SP:114-2018 guideline for earthquake forces in bridges is an example of such developments. In this research, seismic analysis of Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) bridge pier is carried out as per provisions of prevailing guideline IRC:6-2017. Base shear value of IRC:6-2017 is compared with IRC SP:114-2018 which now supersedes seismic provisions of IRC:6-2017. For analysis, different span lengths of 25 m, 30 m and 36 m are used. To assess the impact of height of piers in earthquake analysis, various pier heights such as 10 m, 20 m and 30 m are assumed. The analysis is carried out as per Elastic Seismic Acceleration Method with consideration of different zones and importance of the bridge as per IRC guidelines. Effect of vertical ground motion is also considered in analysis. From analysis, it is observed that base shear and vertical forces have been increased remarkably as per IRC SP:114-2018 compared to IRC:6-2017.
Highlights
The bridge may be defined as a structure which provides transportation facilities over physical obstacles such as valley, water body, road, railway as well as design of the bridges are dependent on its function, nature of terrain, materials used etc
It is very important to analyse the seismic behaviour of a bridge and make its structure seismic resistant for preventing hazardous losses
Vertical seismic calculation is more elaborated and minimum design earthquake coefficient is given in Indian Road Congress (IRC) SP:114-2018
Summary
The bridge may be defined as a structure which provides transportation facilities over physical obstacles such as valley, water body, road, railway as well as design of the bridges are dependent on its function, nature of terrain, materials used etc. It is very important to analyse the seismic behaviour of a bridge and make its structure seismic resistant for preventing hazardous losses. The main function of the pier is to support the spans of the bridge and transfer the loads from superstructure to the foundation. Indian practices have not kept pace and seismic provision for bridges are highly inadequate. Structural designers don’t consider effect of vertical motion in seismic design of the pier. It is necessary to analyse the effect of vertical motion in the pier [3]. After publishing of the guideline of IRC SP:114-2018, the existing provisions for seismic design in Clause 219 of IRC:6-2017 stand superseded [4, 5]. In this study comparison of seismic analysis of bridge substructure (pier) as per IRC SP:114-2018 and IRC:6-2017 its seismic clauses are investigated. Various pier heights such as 10 m, 20 m, 30 m and different span lengths such as 25 m, 30 m, 36m are considered
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