Effects of Low-Cycle Fatigue Fracture of Longitudinal Reinforcing Steel Bars on the Seismic Performance of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Piers

The objective of this research project is to propose robust fiber-based nonlinear finite element models (FEMs) and damage models to simulate the damage development process of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers under quasi-static and earthquake loadings considering low-cycle fatigue and global buckling of longitudinal reinforcing steel bars as well as various combined damage mechanisms. The tensile strain and low-cycle fatigue will be used to represent the damage to longitudinal reinforcing steel bars. Robust fiber-based nonlinear FEMs and damage models using section damage indices and various ductility coefficients will be proposed for seismic damage and collapse assessment of RC bridge piers as well as to identify structural deficiencies for seismic retrofit and maintenance.