Research on seismic performance of reinforced concrete bridge piers considering influence of nonuniform corrosion

For reinforced concrete piers with relatively small shear spans, corrosion in the offshore environment may change the structural damage form. It is necessary to study the effect of simultaneous corrosion on seismic properties. Four bridge piers with a shear span ratio of 2 and different degrees of corrosion were prepared by electrochemical accelerated corrosion methods. The effect of corrosion on seismic performance of bridge piers is studied by a shaking table test. Under the action of seismic excitations, the failure mode, natural vibration period, damping ratio, acceleration, and displacement response, accumulated residual displacement and seismic energy dissipation capacity of the bridge pier were analyzed. The results show that: as the earthquake intensity increases, the energy dissipation capacity of corroded components decreases, and the seismic performance degrades significantly. The ultimate damage form of non-corrosion piers is bending failure. The piers with more severe corrosion appear to yield prematurely in the later stage of loading. Some stirrups could not provide sufficient shear load capacity for the specimen. The specimen finally showed a bending-shear failure form. Copyright ©2022 Engineering Mechanics. All rights reserved.