The efficiency of a seismic energy dissipation device is studied. Steel bellows are connected between girders and abutments in order to reduce the damage of steel bridges. The effectiveness of the bellows is verified by the dynamic response analyses for three-span steel continuous girders on rubber bearings. The piers are single column type made of reinforced concrete designed under L1 or L2 earthquake condition of Japanese code. Their heights are varied in three ways. The seismic performances are examined under various combinations of designed piers. Furthermore, estimation formulas concerning the maximum displacement of superstructure and piers are developed by considering the energy balance between seismic input energy and dissipated hysteretic energy, and their validities are evaluated by comparing with nonlinear dynamic response analyses. The estimation formulas produce good results in spite of their simplicity, and therefore they are efficient for selection of suitable bellows.
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