Seismic performance evaluation of a pile-supported pier in Aceh, Indonesia

The seismic performance of shore structures located in regions having high seismicity is still attracted the interest of researchers. Earthquakes could bring about serious damages on the structures which might lead to failure. Thus the structures' performance under the ground motions need to assessed. This paper describes results of study on performance of a pile supported pier which was constructed in Aceh, Indonesia under seismic motions. In this study the performance evaluation of the pier was conducted using displacement based method of ASCE 61-14 code. 3D numerical models of the pier structure were developed utilizing a structural analysis software package. To account for soil-structure interaction under simulated seismic loads, the nonlinear p-y spring model recommended by American Petroleum Institute was applied. Nonlinear static pushover analysis was performed to obtain structure's capacity. Respons spectrum analysis and nonlinear static demand analysis were carried out to obtain the structure's demand capacity. Results of this study showed that under the 475 and 950-year return periods of earthquakes, the pile-supported pier could be categorized as Minimal Damage. Nevertheless, when it was under 2475-year earthquake return period its performance could be categorized as Control and Repairable Damage; These met the requirements stated in ASCE 61-14.