Dynamic Response of Deepwater Pile Foundation Bridge Piers under Current-wave and Earthquake Excitation

Abstract

Pile foundation bridges are structures extending in the middle of the sea, so they are subject to currents, waves, and earthquake forces. This article presents a hybrid simulation that was used with input excitations of different current velocities, wave properties, and earthquake amplitudes to assess the non-linear dynamic behavior of pile foundation bridge piers. Based on the interface between MATLAB and ABAQUS software, the general formulations of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) under combined current-wave and earthquake loads are derived. Hydrodynamic and earthquake loading is consistently introduced by creating synthetic time histories of combined current-wave actions and spatially variable ground motion. The behavior of the dynamic model of a deepwater pile foundation bridge for the Songhua River in northeast China was adopted as an example of the study. The accuracy of the created model was verified using prior experimental and analytical computations. It is demonstrated how both linear and nonlinear dynamic behavior performs at various water depths under coupled current-wave-earthquake loading conditions. Revealing interesting aspects, particularly in terms of relative displacement, acceleration, shear, and moment response are shown. The results showed that the hybrid model is an efficient of simulating accurate predictions of the hydrodynamic pressure during earthquake actions for structures in coastal areas.