Seismic Performance of Steel Bridge Bent Welded Connections.
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Date
2009-09-14
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Abstract
The objective of this research is to evaluate the seismic performance of steel bridge bent welded connections. Little is know about these types of systems with regard to their application in seismic regions such as Alaska. The focus of this research is specifically related to use of these structures in the State of Alaska.
The research included both an experimental and analytical portion. The experimental portion consisted of four full-scale sub assembly bridge bents. The current practice in Alaska, a fillet weld, was evaluated as well as two additional weld configurations. The two additional weld configurations are a complete joint penetration weld with a reinforcing fillet and a simple complete joint penetration weld. All four test units were tested under reverse cyclic loading applied by a hydraulic actuator. The analytical portion consisted of applying the concepts of direct displacement based design in order to evaluate the test results.
The results of the experiments show the current practice in Alaska is not adequate for the level of seismic intensity throughout the state. The complete joint penetration weld with reinforcing fillet was able to achieve moderate displacement capacity with the possibility of being used in some of the lower seismic regions of the State. The simple complete joint penetration weld was only able to achieve a low level of displacement capacity.
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Keywords
bridge bents, sesimic, weleded connections
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Degree
MS
Discipline
Civil Engineering
