Performance Evaluation of Highway Bridge Piers under Medium Truck Collision Combined with Air Blast
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 36, Issue 1
Abstract
The extreme multihazardous event involving a truck collision and an air blast is a low-probability, high-consequence event for bridge piers. This study aimed to numerically investigate the performance and failure modes of multicolumn piers under a medium-sized truck collision combined with an air blast. Full-scale, finite-element models of multicolumn piers with three configurations were developed using LS-DYNA software with a soil domain restraining the foundations. The accuracy of modeling approaches was verified by comparing tested and simulated results. The collisions were simulated using a single-unit truck (SUT) at velocities ranging from to and combined with air blasts at different scaled distances. Analyses were completed to examine damage propagation and dynamic response during the extreme multihazards. The results showed that after the SUT collision compromised pier capacity, further deterioration occurred from the subsequent air blast, resulting in severe damage and even failure of the pier. In addition, parametric studies were conducted to assess the effects of several load and design parameters on pier performance and identify the controlling parameters. Representative failure modes of multicolumn piers under truck collisions combined with air blasts were assessed. The findings from this study provided a comprehensive understanding of multicolumn pier response to the extreme multihazards and developed recommendations for the practical design and analysis of the multicolumn pier.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
This research is funded, in part, by the Mid-America Transportation Center via a grant from the USDOT’s University Transportation Centers Program, and this support is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the University of Nebraska’s Holland Computing Center for providing computational resources.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 36 • Issue 1 • February 2022
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 6, 2021
Accepted: Sep 16, 2021
Published online: Nov 2, 2021
Published in print: Feb 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Apr 2, 2022
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