Parameters Contributing to the Strength Reduction of Self-centering Concrete Bridge Piers

In this study, the strength reduction of self-centering concrete bridge piers is evaluated for lateral loading using 3D finite element modeling. The strength reduction of post-tensioned self-centering concrete bridge piers depends on several parameters, i.e., concrete strength, prestressing force level, concrete confining jacket thickness, and steel ratio of the pier. Contribution of these parameters for the strength loss and interactions among them are numerically evaluated in this paper based on the responses obtained from FE study and using factorial analysis. The FE model is validated with the experiments developed by Hewes and Priestley, and a detailed parametric study has been conducted using 2k factorial design. These results are used to find out the contributions and the interactions among the parameters of the self-centering pier. The results show that the jacket thickness out of the considered parameters has the highest contribution and the longitudinal steel has a minor contribution to the strength loss of the pier.