Structural Vulnerability Measures for Assessment of Deteriorating Bridges in Seismic Prone Areas

Abstract

This chapter proposes a vulnerability index as a time-dependent measure of the seismic damageability of deteriorating bridges. The penetration of chloride ions into the concrete is simulated through a computational approach that takes into account all the parameters that can affect the corrosion process. For the purpose of the probabilistic seismic risk assessment, seismic fragility curves are generated for the deteriorating bridges using the parameters updated at regular time intervals. From a long-term point of view, the durability of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges is significantly impacted by the deterioration of structural members. A reliable estimation of the corrosion initiation time plays a significant role in improving the accuracy of structural performance assessment of RC bridges during their service life. The overall performance of the bridge is also studied through nonlinear static analysis. The deterioration processes may cause significant structural capacity losses and directly affect the bridge performance under any service and extreme loading conditions.