Seismic performance enhancement of a PCI-girder bridge pier with shear panel damper plus gap: Numerical simulation

In the conventional seismic design approach for a bridge pier, the function of the stopper, and shear key are to serve as mechanisms for unseating prevention devices that retain and transmit the lateral load to the pier under strong earthquakes. This frequently inflicts immense shear forces and bending moments concentrated at the plastic hinge zone. In this study, a shear panel damper plus gap (SPDG) is proposed as a low-cost alternative with high energy dissipation capacity to improve the seismic performance of the pier. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the seismic performance of the pre-stressed concrete I girder (PCI-girder) bridge equipped with SPDG. The bridge structure was analyzed using nonlinear time history analysis with seven-scaled ground motion records using the guidelines of ASCE 7-10 standard. Consequently, the implementation of SPDG technology on the bridge system yielded a notable decrease in maximum displacement by 41.49% and a reduction in earthquake input energy by 51.05% in comparison to the traditional system. This indicates that the presence of SPDG was able to enhance the seismic performance of the existing conventional bridge structure, enabling an improvement from a collapse prevention (CP) level to an immediate occupancy (IO).