Reliability-based life-cycle cost seismic design optimization of coastal bridge piers with nonuniform corrosion using different materials

Reinforcement corrosion is the main cause of performance deterioration of reinforced concrete(RC)structures.Limited research has been performed to investigate the life-cycle cost(LCC)of coastal bridge piers with nonuniform corrosion using different materials.In this study,a reliability-based design optimization(RBDO)procedure is improved for the design of coastal bridge piers using six groups of commonly used materials,i.e.,normal performance concrete(NPC)with black steel(BS)rebar,high strength steel(HSS)rebar,epoxy coated(EC)rebar,and stainless steel(SS)rebar(named NPC-BS,NPC-HSS,NPC-EC,and NPC-SS,respectively),NPC with BS with silane soakage on the pier surface(named NPC-Silane),and high-performance concrete(HPC)with BS rebar(named HPC-BS).First,the RBDO procedure is improved for the design optimization of coastal bridge piers,and a bridge is selected to illustrate the procedure.Then,reliability analysis of the pier designed with each group of materials is carried out to obtain the time-dependent reliability in terms of the ultimate and serviceability performances.Next,the repair time of the pier is predicted based on the time-dependent reliability indices.Finally,the time-dependent LCCs for the pier are obtained for the selection of the optimal design.

Time-varying seismic fragility analysis of durability damage of high-tensile reinforcement ECC bridge pier

The deterioration of the performance of offshore bridges is particularly prominent due to the complex natural environment,including the coupling effects of earthquake and seawater erosion.In particular,bridge piers are the main energy-consuming and load-bearing components,so that excellent seismic capacity of bridge piers is the key to avoiding bridge damage.Although earthquake resistant behavior of ordinary reinforced concrete bridge piers(ordinary pier)can be improved by increasing the section size and reinforcement ratio of piers,the improvement of the earthquake resistant behavior is limited.To further improve the earthquake resistant behavior of bridge piers,high-tensile reinforcement engineered cementitious composite(ECC)bridge piers are utilized and time-varying seismic fragility analysis are conducted in this study.The refined model of a bridge pier is built by OpenSees.First,the influence of ECC replacement height on pier curvature is analyzed to determine the reasonable ECC height.Then,the time-varying fragility analysis of high-tensile reinforcement ECC piers(ECC composite piers)with durability damage are evaluated considering the time-varying law of materials.Four damage states,slight damage,moderate damage,extensive damage and complete collapse,are utilized in the study.These fragility curves indicate the durability damage can debase the earthquake resistant behavior of piers continually,the exceedance probability of the same state of destruction increases with the increase of peak ground acceleration(PGA)and service time of pier.The results also indicate that the corrosion level of chloride ion to pier is small during the early service period,and the bridge pier vulnerable curve is similar to that of the new bridge pier.As the level of chlorine ion corrosion deepens,transcendental probability is increased.Compared with the ordinary pier,the exceedance probability in each limit state of ECC composite piers is significantly reduced.The proposed ECC composite pies leads to better realistic time-varying earthquake resistant behavior.

ML and CFD Simulation of Flow Structure around Tandem Bridge Piers in Pressurized Flow

Various regions are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the increased frequency of floods due to the recent changes in climate and precipitation patterns throughout the world.As a result,specific infrastructures,notably bridges,would experience significant flooding for which they were not intended and would be submerged.The flow field and shear stress distribution around tandem bridge piers under pressurized flow conditions for various bridge deck widths are examined using a series of three-dimensional(3D)simulations.It is indicated that scenarios with a deck width to pier diameter(Ld/p)ratio of 3 experience the highest levels of turbulent disturbance.In addition,maximum velocity and shear stresses occur in cases with Ld/p equal to 6.Results indicate that increasing the number of piers from 1 to 2 and 3 results in the increase of bed shear stress by 24%and 20%respectively.Finally,five machine learning algorithms,including Decision Trees(DT),Feed Forward Neural Networks(FFNN),and three Ensemble models,are implemented to estimate the flow field and the turbulent structure.Results indicated that the highest accuracy for estimation of U,and W,were obtained using AdaBoost ensemble with R2=0.946 and 0.951,respectively.Besides,the Random Forest algorithm outperformed AdaBoost slightly in the estimation of V and turbulent kinetic energy(TKE)with R2=0.894 and 0.951,respectively.

Rapid repair techniques for severely earthquake-damaged circular bridge piers with flexural failure mode

In this study, three rapid repair techniques are proposed to retrofit circular bridge piers that are severely damaged by the flexural failure mode in major earthquakes. The quasi-static tests on three 1：2.5 scaled circular pier specimens are conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed repair techniques. For the purpose of rapid repair, the repair procedure for all the specimens is conducted within four days, and the behavior of the repaired specimens is evaluated and compared with the original ones. A finite element model is developed to predict the cyclic behavior of the repaired specimens and the numerical results are compared with the test data. It is found that all the repaired specimens exhibit similar or larger lateral strength and deformation capacity than the original ones. The initial lateral stiffness of all the repaired specimens is lower than that of the original ones, while they show a higher lateral stiffness at the later stage of the test. No noticeable difference is observed for the energy dissipation capacity between the original and repaired pier specimens. It is suggested that the repair technique using the early-strength concrete jacket confined by carbon fiber reinforced polymer （CFRP） sheets can be an optimal method for the rapid repair of severely earthquake-damaged circular bridge piers with flexural failure mode.

Rapid repair of severely earthquake-damaged bridge piers with flexural-shear failure mode

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of a proposed rapid repair technique for severely earthquake-damaged bridge piers with flexural-shear failure mode. Six circular pier specimens were first tested to severe damage in flexural-shear mode and repaired using early-strength concrete with high-fluidity and carbon fiber reinforced polymers （CFRP）. After about four days, the repaired specimens were tested to failure again. The seismic behavior of the repaired specimens was evaluated and compared to the original specimens. Test results indicate that the proposed repair technique is highly effective. Both shear strength and lateral displacement of the repaired piers increased when compared to the original specimens, and the failure mechanism of the piers shifted from flexural-shear failure to ductile flexural failure. Finally, a simple design model based on the Seible formulation for post-earthquake repair design was compared to the experimental results. It is concluded that the design equation for bridge pier strengthening before an earthquake could be applicable to seismic repairs after an earthquake if the shear strength contribution of the spiral bars in the repaired piers is disregarded and 1.5 times more FRP sheets is provided.

Experimental research and finite element analysis of bridge piers failed in flexure-shear modes

In recent earthquakes, a large number of reinforced concrete （RC） bridges were severely damaged due to mixed flexure-shear failure modes of the bridge piers. An integrated experimental and finite element （FE） analysis study is described in this paper to study the seismic performance of the bridge piers that failed in flexure-shear modes. In the first part, a nonlinear cyclic loading test on six RC bridge piers with circular cross sections is carried out experimentally. The damage states, ductility and energy dissipation parameters, stiffness degradation and shear strength of the piers are studied and compared with each other. The experimental results suggest that all the piers exhibit stable flexural response at displacement ductilities up to four before exhibiting brittle shear failure. The ultimate performance of the piers is dominated by shear capacity due to significant shear cracking, and in some cases, rupturing of spiral bars. In the second part, modeling approaches describing the hysteretic behavior of the piers are investigated by using ANSYS software. A set of models with different parameters is selected and evaluated through comparison with experimental results. The influences of the shear retention coefficients between concrete cracks, the Bauschinger effect in longitudinal reinforcement, the bond-slip relationship between the longitudinal reinforcement and the concrete and the concrete failure surface on the simulated hysteretic curves are discussed. Then, a modified analysis model is presented and its accuracy is verified by comparing the simulated results with experimental ones. This research uses models available in commercial FE codes and is intended for researchers and engineers interested in using ANSYS software to predict the hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete structures.

CFD prediction of local scour hole around bridge piers

In order to predict the local scour hole and its evaluation around a cylindrical bridge pier, the computational fluid dynamics （CFD） and theories of sediment movement and transport were employed to carry out numerical simulations. In the numerical method, the time-averaged Reynolds Navier-Stokes equations and the standard k-e model were first used to simulate the three-dimensional flow field around a bridge pier fixed on river bed. The transient shear stress on river bed was treated as a crucial hydrodynamic mechanism when handling sediment incipience and transport. Then, river-bed volumetric sediment transport was calculated, followed by the modification of the river bed altitude and configuration. Boundary adaptive mesh technique was employed to modify the grid system with changed river-bed boundary. The evolution of local scour around a cylindrical bridge pier was presented. The numerical results represent the flow pattern and mechanism during the pier scouring, with a good prediction of the maximum scour hole depth compared with test results.

Effect of Downward Seepage on Turbulent Flow Characteristics and Bed Morphology around Bridge Piers

In this work, experimental investigations have been pursued to analyse the influence of downward seepage on the turbulent characteristics of flow and corresponding changes in vortex structure around circular bridge pier in alluvial channel. Experiments were conducted in sand bed channel with circular piers of different sizes for no seepage, 10% seepage and 20% seepage cases. The measurement of turbulent flow statistics such as velocity and Reynolds stresses is found to be negative within the scour hole at upstream of the pier whereas application of downward seepage retards the reversal of the flow causing a decrement in the velocity and Reynolds stresses. Higher Reynolds shear stress prevails at the downstream side because of the production of wake vortices. Contribution of all bursting events to the total Reynolds shear stress production has been observed to increase with downward seepage. The analysis of integral scale suggest that size of eddies increases with seepage, which is responsible for increase in particle mobility. Initially rate of scouring is more which abatements gradually with expanding time as well as with the increased of downward seepage. Presence of downward seepage reduces the depth and length of vortex and shifts towards downstream side of the pier.

Experimental study on the width of the turbulent area around bridge pier

At present, the method of calculating the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier is not given in the ＂Standard for Inland River Navigation＂ （GB50139-2004） in China, and the bridge designer usually increases the bridge span in order to ensure the navigation safety, which increases both of the structural design difficulty and the project investments. Therefore, it is extremely essential to give a research on the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier. Through the experiments of the fixed bed and the mobile bed, the factors influencing the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier have been analyzed, such as the approaching flow speed, the water depth, the angles between the bridge pier and the flow direction, the sizes of bridge pier, the shapes of the bridge pier, and the scouting around the bridge pier, etc. Through applying the dimension analytic method to the measured data, the formula of calculating the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier is then inferred.

Finite element analysis of displacements of double pile-column bridge piers at steep slope

In order to study bearing characteristics of bridge pile at steep slope under complex loads in mountians, according to double pile-column bridge piers engineering at steep slope and test models in laboratory, finite element analysis of pile-column bridge piers was carried out using software ADINA under different loadings, such as horizontal loading in the longitudinal direction along bridge, vertical loadings, slope top loadings and complex loadings. The numerical simulation results show that displacements of front pile pier top and back pile pier top are different under horizontal loadings in the longitudinal direction along bridge or vertical loadings, the displacements of front pile pier top are higher than those of back pile pier top, and its difference increases with the increase of loadings. Vertical displacements will also appear under slope top loadings, and displacements of front pier top are higher than those of back pier top too, while its difference reduces with the increase of loadings. Displacements of both front pile pier top and back pile pier top under comlex loading are larger than those under single loading.

Effect of Mutual Interference of Bridge Piers on Scouring in Meandering Channel

Local scour is the reduction of original bed level around any hydraulic structure.Bridge failure due to scouring has made researchers study the cause of scouring and predict the scour depth and pattern around bridge piers and foundations.Several investigators have extensively studied local scour around isolated bridge pier,but modern designs of the bridges comprise of wide span and thus group of piers rather than a single pier.The flow and scour pattern around group of piers are different from the case of a single pier due to the interaction effect.The objective of present study is to investigate the effect of mutual interference of bridge piers on local scour experimentally around two piers in non-cohesive bed.Experiments were carried out on model bridge piers of circular cross section in a meandering channel.It was observed that when front and rear piers were placed at an angular displacement ofθ=40°and 80°respectively,maximum depth of scour is maximum.Hereθis the angle the line drawn at the inlet of bend to the line joining the centre of curvature and any point on the outer portion of the bend.

Effect of Meander on Bridge Pier Scour

have been done in the past by many researchers.Many factors which affect scour around piers such as shape of piers,size,positioning and orientation etc.have been studied in detail by them.However,similar studies in meandering channels are scanty.Very few researchers have studied the effect of angular displacement which has considerable effects of scour around bridge piers.In this paper an attempt has been made to carry out a detailed study of angular displacement on scour.A constant diameter bridge pier of circular shape has been tested in a meandering channel bend with bend angle as 800.The test bed was prepared by using uniform sand having d50 as 0.27 mm and run was taken for a discharge of 2.5 l/s.

Effects of Locations of Spur Dyke on Bed and Scour around Bridge Piers in Meandering Channel

Spur dykes are the structures which are used to protect the eroding bank of rivers.They are sometimes also used to safeguard the life of many struc­tures such as bridge piers,abutments etc.The efficiency of spur dykes has been checked in straight channels by conducting model tests in laboratories by many investigators.Very few studies were done in curved channels.In present work an attempt has been made to study the effect of location of spur dyke on bed and scour around bridge pier in curved open channel(bend angle=80o)with time.Experiment has been carried out in 80o channel bend at constant discharge(3.5×10^(-3) m^(3)/s)and bridge pier is located at angular displacementϴ=60o.Hereϴis the angle the line drawn at the inlet of any bend to the line joining the centre of curvature and any point on the outer portion of the bend.It is found that maximum scouring occurs atϴ=0o and 20oalong inner wall and atϴ=60o and 80o along outer wall.It is also found that scouring around bridge pier is more in the vicinity of pier and decreases with increase in distance from pier.The most suitable location for spur dyke to protect bridge pier is at angular displacementϴ=20o.Scour developed rapidly during initial time and then rate of scouring decreases with elapse of time.

Numerical Simulation of the Influence of Water Flow on the Piers of a Bridge for Different Incidence Angles

A two-dimensional mathematical model is used to simulate the influence of water flow on the piers of a bridge for different incidence angles.In particular,a finite volume method is used to discretize the Navier-Stokes control equations and calculate the circumferential pressure coefficient distribution on the bridge piers’surface.The results show that the deflection of the flow is non-monotonic.It first increases and then decreases with an increase in the skew angle.

NEURAL NETWORK MODELING FOR ESTIMATION OF SCOUR DEPTH AROUND BRIDGE PIERS

It is essential to predict the scour depth around bridge piers for hydraulic engineers involved in the economical design of bridge pier foundation. Conventional investigations have long been of the opinion that empirical scour prediction equations based on laboratory data over predict scour depths. In this article, the Back-Propagation Neural Network （BPN） was applied to predict the scour depth in order to overcome the problem of exclusive and the nonlinear relationships. The observations obtained from thirteen states in USA was verified by the present model. From the comparison with conventional experimental methods, it can be found that the scour depth around bridge piers can be efficiently predicted using the BPN.

Experimental Study on Local Scour Around Bridge Piers in Tidal Current

Local scour around a bridge pier is an important parameter for the design of a bridge. Compared with the local scour in a mono-directional current, the local scour in a tidal current has its unique characteristics. In this paper, several aspects of local scour around bridge piers in tidal current, including the scour development process, the plane form of a scour hole and the maximum scour depth, are studied through movable bed flume experiments.

Impact of bridge pier on the stability of ice jam

River ice jam is one of the most important issues in rivers in cold regions during winter time. With the extra solid boundary due to the ice cover, the flow condition under ice-covered conditions is completely different from that of a open channel flow. The presence of bridge piers will further change the velocity field around the bridge piers. As a consequence, the formation and the accumulation of ice jams in the vicinity of the bridge pier will be affected. On the other side, the formation of an ice jam around the piers can cause extra turbulence to reduce the stability of a river bridge. The present study focuses on the stress analysis of the ice jam in the vicinity of a bridge pier. By developing a governing equation for describing the equilibrium state of an ice jam, the stability of the ice jam around bridge piers is analyzed and determined. As seen from the field data in literature, the stability estimations of an ice jam around bridge piers determined by the present method agree well with the field observations. Therefore, the proposed approach can be used for the prediction of the formation of ice jams around bridge piers.

Impacts of bridge piers on water level during ice jammed period in bend channel——An experimental study

Experiments are carried out in an ＂S-shaped＂ flume in the laboratory under both open flow and ice-jammed conditions to study the impacts of bridge piers in a bend channel on the variation of the water level. The variations of the water level under the ice jammed condition with bridge piers are compared to those without bridge piers in an 180° bend channel. Results indicate that the bridge piers in the S-shaped channel have obvious impacts on the ice accumulation and the water level. The increment of the water level with the presence of the bridge piers is less than that without the bridge piers in the channel. Different arrangements of the bridge piers result in different increments of the water level. When one bridge pier is installed in the straight section of the channel（between 2 bends） and another one at the bend apex（for a convex bank）, the increment of the water level during the equilibrium ice jammed period is between that with a single bridge pier located in the straight section of the bend channel and that with a single bridge pier located at the bend apex. It is also shown that the increment of the water level during the equilibrium ice jammed period increases with the increase of the average thickness of the ice jams.

A revisit of the local scour around bridge piers under an ice-covered flow condition-An experimental study

In this study,by changing both pier diameters and particle sizes of sand bed in flume experiments,the scour process around cylindrical bridge piers under an ice-covered flow condition has been investigated.It is found that the appearance of an ice cover on the water surface caused a deeper and wider scour hole in comparison with that in an open flow with identical flow rates,implying a larger volume of scour hole under an ice-covered flow condition.Similar to the scouring process at a bridge pier under an open flow condition,both the depth and volume of a scour hole increase with the flow velocity and pier diameter.Comparing with results under an open flow condition,for identical flow rates,the maximum depth of a scour hole under an ice-covered flow condition increased by about 20%-30%,and both the scour area and volume of a scour hole increased by about 40%-50%.A flow at Froude number of 0.15 is the demarcation point for assessing an obvious impact of an ice cover on the local scour around a bridge pier in this experimental study.Using data collected from laboratory experiments,equations have been developed to calculate the maximum scour depth,scour area and scour volume.Results of present study have been compared with those of others.

Multi-objective optimization design of bridge piers with hybrid heuristic algorithms

This paper describes one approach to the design of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers, using a three-hybrid multi- objective simulated annealing (SA) algorithm with a neighborhood move based on the mutation operator from the genetic algorithms (GAs), namely MOSAMO1, MOSAMO2 and MOSAMO3. The procedure is applied to three objective functions: the economic cost, the reinforcing steel congestion and the embedded CO 2 emissions. Additional results for a random walk and a descent local search multi-objective algorithm are presented. The evaluation of solutions follows the Spanish Code for structural concrete. The methodology was applied to a typical bridge pier of 23.97 m in height. This example involved 110 design variables. Results indicate that algorithm MOSAMO2 outperforms other algorithms regarding the definition of Pareto fronts. Further, the proposed procedure will help structural engineers to enhance their bridge pier designs.