Seismic Vulnerability assessment of concrete railway bridge using nonlinear analyses

Subject Areas : Structural Engineering

Araliya  Mosleh ¹ (Department of Civil Eng., Faculty of Engineering, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.)
Hamed  Hamidi ² (Department of Civil Eng., Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran)
Ahmad  Nicknam ³ (Department of Civil Eng., Iran University of Science&Technology, P.O. Box 16765-163, Tehran, Iran)
José  Jara ⁴ (Department of Civil Eng., Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Morelia, Mexico)
Humberto  Varum ⁵ (CONSTRUCT-LESE, Department of Civil Eng., Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

Received: 2016-04-10 Accepted : 2016-06-20 Published : 2016-09-30

Keywords: Nonlinear dynamic analysis, Concrete bridges, Seismic vulnerability, Nonlinear static analysis, Retrofitting,

Abstract :

Bridges, as an essential part of transportation system, play a special role in economy, politic and military all around the world. Serviceability of bridges is of high importance especially in emergencies, helping injured people and proportioning transportation after earthquakes. Earthquake regulation codes, normally suggest linear methods to conduct the analysis, and nonlinear analysis is barely used by practicing engineers. In this paper, we analyze a typical concrete bridge located in Iran and use both nonlinear dynamic and static procedures at two hazard levels. This study compares both methodologies, analyze the results and presents some recommendations to reduce the seismic vulnerability.