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Title: Seismic Performance of Unreinforced Concrete Railroad Bridge Piers

Author(s): Qiang Gui and Zhongguo John Ma

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 342

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 114-128

Keywords: continuous rail track, nonlinear link element, railroad bridge, restraining effect, seismic performance, shaking table, video analysis

DOI: 10.14359/51725940

Date: 6/1/2020

Abstract:
Research on the seismic performance of unreinforced concrete railroad bridge substructures is presented. The restraining effect of a continuous rail track structure, which is considered to contribute to better seismic performance of railroad bridges compared with highway bridges, was investigated. A numerical modelling scheme that takes into consideration the nonlinear properties of the ballast and bearings as well as steel and concrete materials was proposed and validated using previous full-scale field testing. The equivalent spring stiffness of the rail track system was obtained and used in the subsequent small-scale shaking table experiment, which investigated the dynamic response of column-shaped rigid body specimens with a spring restraint on the top. Several parameters were considered in the test matrix such as the stiffness of the restraint spring, the height/breadth ratio, the ground excitation, and single-body or multi-body configurations. Discussion regarding the testing results are also presented.