DESIGN EVALUATION OF SEISMICALLY RETROFITTED REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGE COLUMN BENTS BY INFILL WALLS

摘要

A comprehensive experimental program is being conducted to evaluate the use of reinforced concrete infill walls for retrofitting deficient bridge column bents. Tests have already been performed on an as-built bare column bent model and on tee column bent samples retrofitted with infill walls. In the first of the latter, the infill wall was doweled into both the columns and the bent cap; in the second, a gap was allowed between the bent cap and the wall for field construction purposes; and in the last, the gap was filled with regular strength concrete as a re-retrofitting technique. It has been shown that the infill wall generally increased the strength of the column bent while reducing its ductility, and that the infill wall/column bent system has met its design requirements.