Experimental and numerical investigation of the seismic performance of hollow rectangular bridge piers constructed with and without steel fiber reinforced concrete

The seismic performance of reinforced concrete and steel fiber reinforced concrete rectangular hollow piers is evaluated through model tests and numerical simulations. Two large-scale pier specimens, with small amounts of transverse reinforcement, were modeled and tested under a combination of reversed cyclic lateral loading and constant axial loading. One specimen was made of conventional reinforced concrete, while the other was made of steel fiber reinforced concrete – with steel fiber volume fraction of 1.0%. Seismic behavior of the test specimens, including the failure mode, hysteretic characteristics, ductility, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity were investigated. The corresponding finite element simulations, using OpenSees, were carried out and the results are compared with the experimental results. In addition, the parametric analyses of the seismic performance of hollow piers, varying the steel fiber content and transverse reinforcing ratio, were conducted based on the OpenSees analysis platform. The finite element analysis results agree well with the experimental data. The results indicate that the hysteretic characteristics, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of hollow concrete piers are improved by the addition of steel fibers, and that the steel fibers can substitute part of the transverse reinforcement in hollow piers for seismic design.

► Pseudo-static tests of hollow rectangular RC and SFRC piers are carried out.
► The hysteretic characteristics of pier prototypes are modeled well by OpenSees.
► The ductility of SFRC specimens is much better than that of the RC specimens.
► Adding steel fibers in concrete appropriately can replace part of stirrups’ role.