Bridge piers with structural fuses and bi-steel columns. I: Experimental testing

Structural fuses, easily replaceable sacrificial elements to dissipate seismic energy while preventing damage to the gravity load-resisting structural system, are proposed as part of a multicolumn accelerated bridge construction (ABC) pier concept. Different types of structural fuses are investigated to compare the effect of each on ABC bridge bents. The piers of a three span-continuous bridge prototypes having two twin-column pier bents were designed using double-composite rectangular columns and structural fuses. Two corresponding 2/3 -scale models were developed and were subjected to cyclic quasi-static tests. For the first specimen, steel-plate shear links (SPSLs) were installed between the columns as a series of structural fuses. Testing was performed, first up to a drift corresponding to the onset of columns yielding to investigate the effectiveness of adding the fuses in dissipating the seismic energy, then up to failure of the composite columns. The second tested specimen has buckling restrained braces (BRBs) as a series of structural fuses between the columns. The BRBs were then removed, and a cyclic test of the composite bent continued until failure of the columns. Both specimens exhibited stable hysteretic behavior, with the structural fuses also increasing stiffness and strength of the bent. Individual testing results for the SPSLs with various geometries and boundary conditions are then presented.