Monorail guideway structures performance under seismic loads

Monorail Guideway Structures (MGWS) is a kind of railway that moves at high speed rather than trains. Cairo Monorail Projects was considered in this research work. This research investigates the seismic performance of MGWS using pushover analysis (PA) in SAP2000. Based on the results of PA, the hinges were formed in piers prior to beams. The performance of MGWS was determined considering varies parameters including span length, pier height, pier cross-section, reinforcement ratio, concrete compressive strength and stirrups diameter. Establishing the shear and torsion over strength ratio (OSR) is required to protect MGWS elements from brittle failure. In addition to using PA, Time history analysis (THA) was also conducted using SAP2000. The results from both methodologies of analysis were compared and envelope values for the OSR for shear and torsion were determined. Shear and torsion OSRs were determined implementing the basic concepts of the AASHTO Guide Specifications for LRFD Seismic Bridge Design (AASHTO 2022) and were compared to the values calculated from the SAP2000. This comparison was executed in both longitudinal and transverse directions, considering the same parameters for the pushover analysis. The OSR results were calculated using PA and the THA.