Dynamic performance of simply supported girder bridges subjected to successive earthquake-tsunami events

Abstract

Coastal bridges are susceptible to severe damage when subjected to successive earthquake-tsunami events. Previous studies mainly consider the tsunami loadings as hydrodynamic forces, whereas other hydrodynamic forces such as uplift and slamming forces, are not fully investigated. Moreover, there are limited studies on the dynamic performance of simply supported girder bridges under the earthquake-tsunami sequences. To this end, this paper aims to conduct an in-depth investigation on dynamic performance of simply supported bridges subjected to sequential earthquake and tsunami hazards by means of a high-fidelity wave force simulation approach. More specifically, a typical, already constructed simply supported girder bridge is taken as the example bridge, and the numerical model of this bridge is built using the analytical platform OpenSees. The applied time series of tsunami wave force with five wave heights are generated based on a refined computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, and are separately combined with the time histories of 21 pairs of far-field earthquake records to generate the sequential earthquake and tsunami loadings. Subsequently, nonlinear time history analyses (NTHAs) are carried out to obtain the structural dynamic responses, and the effects of preceding earthquakes and wave heights on the performance are investigated. Results indicate that the bearings are susceptible to the damage in the longitudinal direction of the bridge under the sequential earthquake and tsunami loadings, while the piers sustain more damage in the transverse direction. The preceding earthquakes have a significant effect on the bridge performance, and the effect becomes more pronounced with the increase of the ground motion intensity. The contribution of the tsunami loadings to the bridge response increases as the wave height rises. In particular, the transverse pier drift is dominated by the tsunami loadings when the wave height is higher than 7 m. The outcome of this study could aid the design and management of coastal bridge subjected to successive earthquake-tsunami events.