Simulation of lateral-spread induced piled bridge abutment damage mechanism

TY - GEN

T1 - Simulation of lateral-spread induced piled bridge abutment damage mechanism

AU - Stergiopoulou, Eleni

AU - Knappett, Jonathan

AU - Wotherspoon, Liam

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The Avondale Road Bridge in Christchurch, New Zealand was extensively damaged due to liq-uefaction and consequent lateral spreading induced by the Canterbury earthquake sequence (2010-2011). The deck acted as a prop, forcing the abutments to rotate around the deck-abutment connection, causing extensive plastic hinging within the foundation piles and also resulted in extensive settlement in the backfill. In order to further study this observed damage mechanism, key bridge parts were modelled at 1:50 scale including piles made of damageable model reinforced concrete (RC). The soil model was modelled on the layered profile of the south abutment, where the most severe damage was manifested. The model was designed, manufactured, assembled and tested in the University of Dundee (UoD) centrifuge facility. The centrifuge test validated the observed damage mechanism, including the pinning effect of the deck, abutment rotation and backfill settlement, providing a benchmark for future testing of possible retrofit solutions.

AB - The Avondale Road Bridge in Christchurch, New Zealand was extensively damaged due to liq-uefaction and consequent lateral spreading induced by the Canterbury earthquake sequence (2010-2011). The deck acted as a prop, forcing the abutments to rotate around the deck-abutment connection, causing extensive plastic hinging within the foundation piles and also resulted in extensive settlement in the backfill. In order to further study this observed damage mechanism, key bridge parts were modelled at 1:50 scale including piles made of damageable model reinforced concrete (RC). The soil model was modelled on the layered profile of the south abutment, where the most severe damage was manifested. The model was designed, manufactured, assembled and tested in the University of Dundee (UoD) centrifuge facility. The centrifuge test validated the observed damage mechanism, including the pinning effect of the deck, abutment rotation and backfill settlement, providing a benchmark for future testing of possible retrofit solutions.

UR - http://eurofuge2016.ifsttar.fr/

UR - http://eurofuge2016.ifsttar.fr/fileadmin/contributeurs/Eurofuge/preliminary_schedule_vf.pdf

M3 - Conference contribution

SP - 225

EP - 230

BT - Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (EUROFUGE 2016), Nantes, France, 1-3 June 2016

A2 - Thorel, L

A2 - Bretschneider, A

A2 - Blanc, M

A2 - Escoffier, S

PB - IFSTTAR

ER -