The application of shape memory alloy in reinforced concrete construction is gaining popularity among the earthquake engineering research community. The collapses of bridge structures during past and recent earthquakes have raised questions regarding the adequacy of current design practices and conventional steel reinforcement to prevent the partial or total collapse. The substantial residual deformation sustained by conventional bridge pier has also brought up questions as how to limit the residual deformation and increase the collapse safety of bridge structures. This study is intended to examine the seismic collapse safety of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers reinforced with shape memory alloy (SMA) rebar, and compares with regular RC bridge piers that are representative of those built following current seismic design guidelines. The evaluation considers a typical RC bridge pier located in Vancouver, BC, Canada which is designed according to the current seismic provisions in CHBDC. Using 40 different ground motions, the collapse safety performance of the SMA-RC bridge pier will be evaluated and compared with the steel-RC bridge pier. Using Incremental dynamic analysis, the collapse risk of the SMA-RC bridge pier will be evaluated considering uncertainties in ground-motion characteristics and structural modeling. The outcome of this study will provide an estimate of the dynamic capacity of the SMA-RC bridge pier and demonstrate the effectiveness of the inclusion of SMA as reinforcement in bridge pier.
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