NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF ENERGY DISSIPATION SUBSIDIARY PIERS

Seismic damage control for long span cable-stayed bridges can be achieved by adding energy dissipation subsidiary piers. The stiffness and strength of energy dissipation subsidiary piers are key design parameters, so theoretical analyses for energy dissipation subsidiary piers with shear links (SLs) or buckling restrained braces (BRBs) are conducted. Then simplified formulas are developed to calculate the elastic stiffness and yielding strength of energy dissipation subsidiary piers fast and accurately. The finite element models are developed to replicate the hysteretic behavior of specimens. The numerical results accurately capture the nonlinear behavior of energy dissipation subsidiary piers and provide reliable models for the global elasto-plastic analysis of long span cable-stayed bridges. Compared with experimental results, the simplified formulas and finite element models are verified. The differences in behavior between the twin-column piers with and without energy dissipation elements are investigated. The results show that energy dissipation members can improve the seismic capacity of energy dissipation subsidiary piers significantly. Finally, parametric analyses for energy dissipation subsidiary piers with BRBs are performed.