The purpose of this study was to investigate the inelastic behavior of precast concrete segmental bridge piers with shear resistance connecting structure. The goal of addressing system performance is to maximize post-earthquake functionality of a structure and to minimize direct and indirect societal losses. The system can also reduce work at a construction site and makes construction periods shorter. A model of precast concrete segmental bridge piers with shear resistance connecting structure was tested under a constant axial load and a cyclically reversed horizontal load. A computer program, RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), for the analysis of reinforced concrete structures was used. Material nonlinearity is taken into account by comprising tensile, compressive and shear models of cracked concrete and a model of reinforcing steel. A bonded or unbonded tendon element based on the finite element method, that can represent the interaction between tendon and concrete of prestressed concrete member, is used. A joint element is newly developed to predict the inelastic behaviors of segmental joints with shear resistance connecting structure. The proposed numerical method gives a realistic prediction of inelastic behavior throughout the loading cycles for several test specimens investigated. This study documents the testing of precast concrete segmental bridge piers with shear resistance connecting structure under cyclic loading and presents conclusions and design recommendations based on the experimental and analytical findings.
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