Zeng, Zeng; Freddi, Fabio; He, Yuan; Jia, Yunfan; Xu, Yan; (2025) Shake table tests of seismic-resilient bridge columns incorporating high ductile ECC and socket connection. Engineering Structures , 336 , Article 120456. 10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120456.

Text Zeng et al_2025_Shake tab tests bridge col ECC & SC - Authors Version.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 3 May 2026. Download (3MB)

Abstract

Improving the seismic resilience of bridge structures presents significant challenges, particularly in minimizing functional damage to reinforced concrete (RC) columns without increasing construction complexity. To address this challenge, the present study investigates the use of polyethylene fiber-reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) in plastic hinge zones, which has the potential to simultaneously reduce damage and simplify construction. The proposed solution comprises an RC segment for the part of the column expected to behave elastically and a reinforced ECC segment in the plastic hinge zones (RC-ECC column). This solution requires only half the transverse reinforcements with respect to conventional RC columns. Its construction efficiency can be further enhanced by a socket connection for the column-footing joint assembly. A set of shake table tests was conducted on three 1/3 scale specimens: a conventional cast-in-place RC column, a cast-in-place RC-ECC column, and a socket-connected RC-ECC column. The experimental results allow for a comparison of the seismic performance of the three solutions and the validation of numerical models. The experimental results highlighted the benefits provided by the use of ECC in terms of reduced strains in the longitudinal rebars and concrete cracking. The RC-ECC columns were classified as ‘repairable’ for Peak Ground Accelerations (PGAs) equal to 0.70 g versus 0.40 g, which was the maximum PGA beyond which conventional RC columns were considered non-repairable. Finite element (FE) models were developed in OpenSees and validated against the experimental results. These models were used to numerically investigate the influence of design parameters on the performance of the RC-ECC columns and provide design recommendations. The present study confirms that RC-ECC columns with socket connections represent a promising solution for enhanced seismic resilience and improved construction efficiency of bridge structures, and provides valuable insights for their design.

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