Seismic Evaluation of Precast Piers with Different Rebar Strength Based on Characterized Resilience Parameters

Abstract The use of precast pier segments is an integral part of many accelerated bridge construction efforts. To effectively compensate for the adverse effect caused by the concrete discontinuity between precast segments, replacing conventional rebar with high-strength steel (HSS) rebar can be an alternative to this issue. However, the primary interest in design practice is how to evaluate the seismic performance of precast piers with different rebar strength. To this end, a seismic evaluation method based on the four characterized resilience parameters was developed, which related to energy consumption, stiffness degradation, residual displacement, and drift capacity. According to the physical significance of the parameters, their desired expectations were expounded. In order to investigate the impact of rebar strength, an experimental program of the two precast piers was conducted, and the hysteretic curves were obtained. By comparatively analyzing the envelope curves of the two precast piers, the characterized resilience parameters were calculated and evaluated. It conclusively showed that the precast pier with HSS rebar was better than the one with conventional rebar at large. The proposed method based on the characterized resilience parameters is an effective tool to evaluate the seismic performance of bridge piers.