Dynamic behaviors of double-column RC bridge subjected to barge impact

Abstract

This paper aims to study the dynamic responses and damage patterns of the prototype inland double-column RC bridge subjected to barge impact. Firstly, by utilizing a horizontal collision facility, a 1/5 scaled Jumbo Hopper (JH) barge bow repeated impact test with various impact velocities is carried out on three double-column RC bridge pier (DCBP) specimens. The impact force-time histories, crushing process of barge bow, and dynamic behaviors of both the impacted and adjacent piers are obtained and assessed. Then, by establishing the refined finite element (FE) models of the barge bow-DCBP collision, the present test is numerically simulated by adopting the FE program LS-DYNA. The corresponding FE analyses approach as well as the material models and parameters, are validated by comparing with the experimental impact forces, crush depths of barge bow, lateral displacement-time histories, and damage patterns of the DCBP specimens. Finally, the prototype barge-bridge collision is further studied with considering the material nonlinearity of the bridge pier and superstructure, soil-pile interactions, as well as the strain-rate effect. The impact process and damage pattern of bridge during collisions are discussed, and the influences of impact velocity, barge mass, and oblique angle on the dynamic behaviors of the prototype bridge are examined. It derives that, the impact velocity is more dominant on the peak impact force than the barge mass; the oblique barge impact amplifies the overall collapse risk of the bridge superstructure; the oblique angle has a remarkable aggravating effect on the induced damage level of bridge under identical impact kinetic energy.