Cyclic behavior of RC hollow bridge piers with corroded rebars

Abstract

A comprehensive experimental program of cyclic tests on 1:3-scale models of bridge piers is going to be carried out at the Laboratory of DiSGG of the University of Basilicata. The testing models consist of RC single shaft piers with hollow circular cross sections and corroded rebars, accomplished with an accelerated oxidation process. In this paper the experimental results of the characterization tests on concrete specimens and corroded steel bars are presented first. This is followed by the description of the results of accurate numerical simulation analyses carried out with the finite element program OPENSees, modelling the piers with RC fiber elements, taking into account pull-out and lap-splice effects of steel rebars. In the numerical analyses, different configurations and levels of corrosion have been considered. The cyclic behavior of the piers is described in terms of effective stiffness and equivalent damping as functions of pier ductility and pier drift.