Civil Engineering Association

SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF HIGH-ST RENGTH-CONCRETE HOLLOW BRIDGE PIERS UNDER MULTI-DIRECTIONAL LOADING

High-strength-concrete (HSC) offers the potential of transforming the design of structural elements under seismic loads by harnessing the enhanced capacities associated with axial load, flexural compression zone confinement and web shear crushing of wall webs. However, the limits to which such performance features can be reliably taken into account require careful exploration, in particular, when considering multi-directional seismic loads. Of the noted aspects enhanced by HSC, that associated with the inelastic web crushing capacity of hollow rectangular bridge piers is still unresolved in view of the guidance of capacity design philosophy which suppresses possible shear failures. Nonetheless, recent research has demonstrated that structural walls can exhibit dependable ductile behavior before being ultimately limited by web crushing shear failures. And that this inelastic capacity can be further improved with HSC. However, the threedensional demands and damage accumulation of HSC structural walls under multi-directional loading needs to be properly evaluated to establish reliable nlimits that satisfy the noted inelastic performance requirements.