The anchorage-slip effect on direct displacement-based design of R/C bridge piers for limiting material strains

Direct displacement-based design (DDBD) represents an innovative philosophy for seismic design of structures. When structural considerations are more critical, DDBD design should be carried on the basis of limiting material strains since structural damage is always strain related. In this case, the outcome of DDBD is strongly influenced by the displacement demand of the structural element for the target limit strains. Experimental studies have shown that anchorage slip may contribute significantly to the total displacement capacity of R/C column elements. However, in the previous studies, anchorage slip effect is either ignored or lumped into flexural deformations by applying the equivalent strain penetration length. In the light of the above, an attempt is made in this paper to include explicitly anchorage slip effect in DDBD of R/C column elements. For this purpose, a new computer program named RCCOLA-DBD is developed for the DDBD of single R/C elements for limiting material strains. By applying this program, more than 300 parametric designs are conducted to investigate the influence of anchorage slip effect as well as of numerous other parameters on the seismic design of R/C members according to this methodology.