Dynamic behavior and damage mechanisms of reinforced concrete piers subjected to truck impact

Abstract

In this paper, the dynamic behavior and damage mechanisms of reinforced concrete (RC) piers subjected to truck impact are investigated using finite-element (FE) simulations in LS-DYNA. Firstly, high-fidelity FE models of trucks and RC piers are established and verified against previous experimental data together with a real traffic accident. Then, an intensive parametric study is carried out to evaluate the effect of truck type on the impact force, failure mode, internal force, energy absorption, and reinforcement stress of RC piers. The simulation results show that the impact force is greatly affected by the structural stiffness and mass distribution of the trucks. Big differences exist in dynamic responses and failure modes of the piers under the impact of the different trucks. Besides, the concrete plays a dominant role in the energy absorption of the piers in the initial impact stage, and the energy dissipated by the reinforcements mainly depends on the lateral deformation of the pier in the following stage. Finally, two typical failure processes of RC piers subjected to truck impact are identified based on the interaction of shear and flexural responses.