Evaluation of Joint Shear Response for Existing California Bridges

Since the early 1990’s, greater emphasis has been placed on joint shear considerations in the seismic design of bridges. While damage associated with joint shear will not necessarily create a collapse mechanism, degradation of a large number of adjacent joints resulting in a loss of moment carrying capacity could lead to instability of the structure. Therefore, the designer should evaluate the potential for joint shear degradation in order to determine the need to take measures to ensure structural stability during the seismic event. As a joint is cycled during a seismic event, it may degrade and lose its ability to carry moment. This paper outlines a procedure that allows the engineer to determine if such degradation may occur during the design event and a means to modify the joint properties in the analytical model accordingly. The joints are classified into four categories described as weak, moderate, intermediate and strong joints. Each joint classification is characterized in terms of the volumetric joint reinforcement and the nominal joint shear strength. The recommended procedure may be used to estimate joint shear capacity and to determine the effects of joint shear degradation on the overall system displacement capacity. The intent of the recommended joint shear procedure is to complement the analytical displacement based pushover procedure adopted by many states for retrofitting existing and designing new bridges.

• Corporate Authors:

  Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research

  State University of New York, 107 Red Jacket Quadrangle, P.O. Box 610025
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14261-0025
• Authors:
  • Alameddine, Fadel
  • Keever, Michael
• Conference:
  • Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways
  • Location: Charleston SC, United States
  • Date: 2008-7-28 to 2008-7-30
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 12p
• Monograph Title: Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways: Seismic Technologies for Extreme Loads

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge design; Degradation failures; Earthquake resistant design; Joints; Seismicity; Shear strength; Structural analysis
• Geographic Terms: California
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01355099
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 25 2011 11:46AM