Seismic reliability analysis of reinforced concrete bridge pier using efficient response surface method–based simulation

Abstract

Seismic reliability analysis of bridge structures during and succeeding an earthquake event is of significant importance. The more accurate and robust approach of seismic reliability analysis is based on direct Monte Carlo simulation technique. But it is computationally challenging due to the requirement of large number of nonlinear time history analyses. The response surface method–based metamodeling approach is a viable alternative in such situation. This study explores the advantage of moving least squares method–based adaptive response surface method compared to the usually applied least squares method–based response surface method for improved seismic reliability analysis of multi-span bridge pier. The nonlinear time history analyses of the bridge pier are performed in the OpenSees with fibre sections considering a ground motion bin corresponding to the specified hazard level of the bridge site. The seismic reliability analysis results obtained by the usual least squares method and the proposed moving least squares method–based response surface method are compared with that of obtained by more accurate direct Monte Carlo simulation technique to elucidate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.