Study of transverse pounding effect of high-rise pier rigid-frame bridges under action of earthquake

To enhance the ability of long span and high-rise pier continuous rigid-frame bridges for protecting against earthquake and mitigating the earthquake disaster, the proper seismic mitigation measures for the bridges were studied. By way of example of a bridge of the same kind located in the strong earthquake belt in the mountainous region in the west of China, the finite element program SAP2000 Nonlinear was used to establish the spatial nonlinear dynamic calculation model for the bridge, the transverse seismic response law and the transverse pounding effect of the bridge were analyzed. The results of the analysis reveal that for the long span and high-rise pier continuous rigid-frame bridges, it will be difficult to achieve the effective control of the seismic responses of the transition piers and rigid-frame piers just by arranging the elastic retainers on tops of the transition piers, the forces produced by the pounding can very easily destroy the retainers and hence cause the retainers to lose their functions of restraining. On tops of the transition piers, if the elastic-plastic retainers are provided and the proper yield strength of the retainers is chosen, the seismic responses of the transition piers and rigid-frame piers and the displacement of the superstructure can be effectively controlled.