Title:
Performance-based Seismic Assessment of Highway Bridges with Superelastic SMA Reinforced Piers and Restraining Devices
Author(s):
Shuai Li
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
10/17/2021
Abstract:
The merit and effectiveness of a novel bridge system with super elastic (SE) shape memory alloy (SMA)-reinforced piers and restraining devices against destructive earthquakes have been validated, and promising results have been published; however, considering the high initial cost of SMA materials, the economic benefit of such a novel bridge has not been recognized yet. The objective of this study is to assess the main benefits of the novel bridge over the conventional bridge in terms of economic loss performance given different earthquake scenarios. Results revealed that the proposed novel bridge having SMA-reinforced piers equipped with SMA restrainers is less fragile at both the component and system levels compared to the prototype bridge. The novel bridge presents remarkable functionality and resilience with noticeable post-earthquake financial benefits (direct, indirect, and long-term losses). The results also showed much higher cost-benefit ratios of the proposed novel bridge under different earthquake scenarios.