A simplified approach for seismic reliability assessment of simply supported RC bridges under nonlinear deformation and uncertainties

Abstract

The nonlinear static pushover analysis provides a useful tool to describe the seismic behaviour of bridges subjected to moderate to high seismicity. This paper develops a simplified pushover analysis procedure for the seismic assessment of simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) bridges. With the proposed method, the pushover curve of the bridge can be obtained explicitly without complex finite element modelling. A random factor is introduced to reflect the uncertainty associated with the pushover curve. The role of the correlation in the pier performance in the bridges seismic reliability is also considered. Illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of variation and correlation in pier behaviour on the bridges seismic performance.