Location
San Diego, California
Presentation Date
29 Mar 2001, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Abstract
Approximate modeling of bridge abutment stiffness and capacity plays an important role in seismic analysis of bridge structures. To evaluate the characteristics of passive resistance and stiffness of bridge abutment, an experimental study was conducted at the University of California, Davis (UCD). In this study, one of the tests was a displacement controlled longitudinal cyclic loading test of a half-scale abutment (West Abutment), where the embankment was constructed from a soil known as “Yolo Loam” (a low plasticity clayey silt). The structural backfill consisted of a well graded silty sand. A thin drainage layer of pea gravel was placed between the wall and the structural backfill. The backwall was supported on three reinforced concrete piles. This paper presents the results of a numerical simulation of this test using the finite difference computer program FIAC. To better represent the nonlinear cyclic load behavior of soils, a multiple yield surface (MYS) plasticity model was implemented into FLAC. In the numerical model, the abutment wall was represented by rigid boundary, the embankment soil, the structural backfill and the pea gravel were represented with the MYS model. Between the structural backfill and the pea gravel, interface elements were inserted and the pea gravel was connected to the wall through interface elements. The field cyclic load test results were successfully simulated by the FIAC model. The paper presents analysis results in graphical form and demonstrates the value of the analysis approach in simulating abutment behavior under cyclic loads arising from bridge deck inertial earthquake response.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
4th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2001 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Yan, Liping and Martin, Geoffrey R., "Seismic Analysis of Bridge Abutments: A Numerical Simulation of a Field Load Test" (2001). International Conferences on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. 12.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icrageesd/04icrageesd/session07/12
Included in
Seismic Analysis of Bridge Abutments: A Numerical Simulation of a Field Load Test
San Diego, California
Approximate modeling of bridge abutment stiffness and capacity plays an important role in seismic analysis of bridge structures. To evaluate the characteristics of passive resistance and stiffness of bridge abutment, an experimental study was conducted at the University of California, Davis (UCD). In this study, one of the tests was a displacement controlled longitudinal cyclic loading test of a half-scale abutment (West Abutment), where the embankment was constructed from a soil known as “Yolo Loam” (a low plasticity clayey silt). The structural backfill consisted of a well graded silty sand. A thin drainage layer of pea gravel was placed between the wall and the structural backfill. The backwall was supported on three reinforced concrete piles. This paper presents the results of a numerical simulation of this test using the finite difference computer program FIAC. To better represent the nonlinear cyclic load behavior of soils, a multiple yield surface (MYS) plasticity model was implemented into FLAC. In the numerical model, the abutment wall was represented by rigid boundary, the embankment soil, the structural backfill and the pea gravel were represented with the MYS model. Between the structural backfill and the pea gravel, interface elements were inserted and the pea gravel was connected to the wall through interface elements. The field cyclic load test results were successfully simulated by the FIAC model. The paper presents analysis results in graphical form and demonstrates the value of the analysis approach in simulating abutment behavior under cyclic loads arising from bridge deck inertial earthquake response.
