Seismic behavior of traffic signal poles considering support-ground conditions
Taehyeon Kim,Jong-Han Lee,Yu-Chen Ou,Hwasung Roh
Abstract
The seismic responses of the embedded traffic signal poles are examined with an emphasis on the influence of soil mechanical properties on deformation mechanisms in this study. A three-dimensional finite element model was developed, and monotonic, cyclic, and nonlinear time-history analyses were conducted for three foundation boundary conditions: fixed-base, well graded sand (SW), and clayey sand (SC). For the SW soil and SC soil, the initial lateral stiffness decreased approximately 8% and 17% compared to the fixed-base condition, which indicates the governing role of soil flexibility in early-stage response. Under monotonic loading, significant soil opening occurred at drift ratios of approximately 1.8% and 2.2% in SW and SC soil, respectively, demonstrating that cohesion delays separation but leads to rapid stiffness loss once mobilized. Cyclic analysis revealed that SW soil maintained mixed flexure–rotation behavior with gradual stiffness degradation, whereas SC soil transitioned rapidly to rotation dominated response due to cohesion degradation and interface slip. Additionally, time-history results further showed that the fixed-base condition underestimated displacement demands. The SW case showed relatively consistent displacement responses under different ground motions, and the SC case showed obvious variability and larger drift demand under strong ground motions. The investigation results show that the seismic response of traffic signal poles is significantly influenced by supporting soil conditions. In particular, depending on the soil stiffness and cohesion properties, the traffic signal pole exhibits different responses, resulting in flexure-dominated or rotationdominated seismic behavior and associated damage mechanism.
Key Words
finite element analysis; seismic responses; soil-structure interaction; traffic signal pole; transport infrastructures
Address
Taehyeon Kim — Department of Civil Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea
Jong-Han Lee — Department of Civil Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea
Yu-Chen Ou — Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Hwasung Roh — Department of Civil Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea
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