Seismic failure mode of coastal bridge piers considering the effects of

corrosion-induced damage by (ScienceDirect)

Wei Yuan, Anxin Guo⁎, Hui Li

This paper presents a methodology to investigate the seismic failure mode of the corroded
bridge piers in a marine environment.

Coastal bridges exposed to a marine environment always suffer significant chloride-induced

corrosion. During the whole service life of the bridge, the continuous penetration of chloride
ions induces cracking and spalling of the concrete cover, degradation of the bond capacity and
decrease of the material strength.

In seismic-prone regions, the corrosion damage of the bridges would significantly reduce the
lateral load-resisting capacity of the structure in a seismic event.

Understanding the seismic performance of the corroded coastal bridges is an important issue
for researchers and engineers to assure the safety of the aging structures when sustaining
earthquake excitations.

In a marine environment, chloride penetration directly induces material deterioration. To

investigate the time-dependent performance of the structures, many researchers have
investigated the corrosion penetration model and material deterioration model.

Based on Fick's law,

the chloride diffusion models in saturated and non-saturated concrete have been developed and
employed for determining the corrosion initiation time of the reinforcement.

For the reinforced concrete (RC) structures, the corrosion-induced performance degradation of
reinforced steel is recognized to be the dominant cause of premature failure of the structures.

Focusing on this issue, some researchers have conducted experiments to investigate the time
dependent corrosion damage of the reinforced bars, including the mass loss of the steel and the
reduction of strength, diameter and ductility.

During the experiments, the corrosion of the specimens was always achieved by exposure in
the natural environment or through an accelerated corrosion method.

In addition, limited efforts have been made to investigate the corrosion-induced cracking,
degradation of stiffness and delamination of the concrete cover. ????
In the last decade, some researchers and engineers also devoted to establish appropriate
methods for the fragility analysis, life-cycle reliability assessment and cost estimation of
corroded bridges.

Based on currently available probabilistic models for pristine bridges, Choe et al. [19,20]
proposed novel probabilistic models for the seismic demand and capacity (deformation and
shear force) of corroded RC bridges. Seismic fragility increment functions were also developed
to determine the fragility of corroded RC bridge columns in various environment and material
conditions.

Considering the reduction in cross-sectional area of the reinforcement and in stiffness due to

concrete cover spalling,

Simon et al. [23] and Zhong et al. [24] investigated the seismic responses and fragility of
deteriorated RC.

The simulation results indicated that the losses in strength and stiffness only marginally
influenced the seismic fragility of the analyzed bridge.

Akiyama et al. proposed a novel computational procedure to evaluate the life-cycle seismic
reliability of corroded RC bridges due to the airborne chloride hazard in marine environment.

In addition, Kumar et al. proposed a probabilistic approach to compute the life-cycle cost
(LCC) of corroded RC bridges considering the uncertainties of the ground motions and the
cumulative damage associated with low-cycle fatigue and chloride- induced corrosion of
reinforcement.

Ghosh and Padgett [27] developed a probabilistic approach to explicitly incorporate time-
dependent seismic vulnerability of aging bridges in the seismic loss estimation via a framework
based on a non-homogeneous Poisson process. Incorporating the visual inspection and the

seismic vulnerability analysis, Zanini et al. [28] established an integrated procedure for
assessing the maintenance state and related costs of existing road bridges.

In the marine environment, the coastal bridge piers would suffer corrosion varying along the
column height in the submerged zone, splash and tidal zone and atmospheric zone due to
different types of exposure.
Many research efforts had been devoted to investigate the time-dependent performance of the
materials in one of the three zones [4,29].

It is widely accepted that the materials in splash and tidal zone has the highest risks of corrosion
[30,31].

For conventional bridge piers, the seismic-induced damage always occurs in the column bottom
due to large bending moment.

However, if the load-resisting capacity at specific region, such as the splash and tidal zone of
the coastal bridge, is more significantly reduced than the other regions due to corrosion,

the failure of the aging structures would deviate from the expected failure status, and
consequently affects the seismic performance of the structures.

The failure mode is an important property affecting the seismic performance of the civil
infrastructures. For the sound bridge piers, the seismic failure mode can be classified into three
categories, i.e., flexure failure, flexure-shear failure and shear failure, depending on the shear
span ratio and the shear strength of the components [32].

By testing 13 RC circular columns with different degrees of corrosion and different axial load
ratios, Ma et al. [33] experimentally investigated the time dependent failure phenomena of the
uniform corroded components and concluded that the failure pattern could change from
flexural failure to flexure-shear failure or shear failure when the stirrups were subjected to
serious corrosion.

The plastic hinge length of the columns has a direct correlation with the seismic capacity of the
structures. Due to the nonlinearity of the material, the bond-slip behavior between the concrete
and the reinforcement, and the shear-bending interactions, the experimental method is a
preferred way to estimate its value [34].

Park and Priestley [35] conducted the experiment using four full-size reinforced concrete
columns with the application of different axial loads. The conclusion indicated that the plastic
hinge length was not sensitive to the axial load level. Considering different grades of reinforced
bar,
Paulay and Priestley [36] modified the expression proposed by Priestley and Park [37] and
demonstrated that the plastic hinge length can be calculated when the column height, the
column diameter and the strength of the flexural reinforcement of a column are determined.

This paper presents a methodology to investigate the seismic failure mode of the corroded
bridge piers in a marine environment. The main contributions of this study include:

(1) the possible time-dependent seismic failure modes of the coastal bridge piers are
investigated for the structures with corrosion varying along the height in such specific
exposure;

(2) a method is proposed for calculating the equivalent plastic hinge length (EPHL) of the
corroded bridge piers;

(2) a computational procedure is developed for distinguishing the seismic failure mode and
determining the EPHL of the corroded bridge piers to obtain insight into the seismic
performance of deteriorating bridges piers.

The main content of this study is organized as five parts.

First, the possible seismic failure modes of corroded bridge piers,

the method for estimating the EPHL and the corresponding flowchart for the analysis are
studied and discussed.

Then, the method to determine the corrosion initiation time and the performance deterioration
of the steel reinforcement are introduced, considering the corrosion varying along the column
height of the coastal bridge piers.

Next, the finite element models of the sound and aging bridge piers are established based on
the OpenSees software package and the time-dependent constitutive models of the
reinforcement.

Using the proposed method, a numerical example is conducted to investigate the time-
dependent failure modes of the coastal bridge piers and the corresponding EPHL.

The simulation results indicate that the plastic hinge would transfer from the column end to the
splash and tidal zone when the difference of the corrosion damage between the submerged zone
and the splash and tidal zone reaches a certain degree.
Corrosion fatigue effects on life estimation of deteriorated bridges under
vehicle impacts

by W. Zhang ⇑, H. Yuan (Science Direct)

When the environmental effects combined with other failure mechanisms taking place on
bridge structures, i.e., corrosion with fatigue, the consequential results are more detrimental
which could lead to major catastrophic bridge failures. When both corrosion and fatigue act
simultaneously on aged bridge structures, the impact which will create is rather disastrous than
two of the failure mechanisms act separately on a bridge structure. The fatigue occurrences are
typically originated over the vehicle-induced fatigue damages. The research paper titled
‘Corrosion fatigue effects on life estimation of deteriorated bridges under vehicle impacts’ by
Zhang W. & Yuan, H. (2014) presents a comprehensive analysis of the corrosion fatigue
effects on the bridge performance and life expectation of deteriorated bridges subjected to
dynamic vehicle loads.

Corrosion fatigue, which refers to the joint interaction of corrosive environment and repeated
dynamic stressing, is more detrimental than that of either one acting separately [48].

Bridges, which serve as a major link component in the infrastructure system, are extremely
vulnerable to the combined action of corrosion and fatigue.

The action could possibly bring major threats on structural safety and lead to catastrophic
failure, such as the tragedy of the collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967 [37].

With more than 30% of existing bridges exceeding their 50-year design lives and 35% of
existing bridges classified either as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete in the U.S.,
great attention has been raised on the safety and reliability of the infrastructure system [6].

With potential significant deterioration and much heavier vehicle loads, the safety of the
existing deteriorating bridges in their later life cycles is more critical.

With a remarkable progress on vehicle bridge dynamics and metal corrosion analysis, it is
possible to assess the time-variant damage from random vehicle loads, environmental
corrosion, and their combined effects.

In order to obtain the stress range history, a data analysis on onsite strain measurements or a
structural dynamic analysis of bridges is necessary.
Since the field measurements can be expensive and stress range spectra for bridges are strongly
site-specific [36], it is impossible to take on-site measurement for every concerned location of
every bridge.

Therefore, finite element method (FEM) based structural dynamic analysis can be used to
provide reasonable stress range histories for bridge details in various scenarios.

The efforts on modeling the interactions of vehicles and bridges started from modeling the
vehicle as a constant moving force or a moving mass [8,49].

Guo and Xu [25] built a fully coupled vehicle-bridge dynamic model, and later a framework
for vehicle bridge-wind dynamic analysis was established by Cai and Chen [10].

In their vehicle-bridge or vehicle-bridge-wind dynamic system, coupled equations of motions

for the vehicle and the bridge were built. The coupling forces between the bridge and vehicles
were modeled as coupling forces between the tires and the randomly generated road surface of
the bridge deck.

The dynamic effects of vehicles on bridges were proven significantly affected by the vehicle
speed and road roughness conditions [7,44,46,56]. Later, a systematic fatigue damage
assessment approach was built include the effects of the progressively deteriorated road
conditions and random dynamic vehicle loads in a bridge’s life cycle [56]. However, no
material corrosion in a bridge’s life cycle was considered in the previous study on the vehicle-
bridge dynamic analysis.

Corrosion fatigue is an electrochemical process dependent on the

environment/materials/stressing interaction and has very complex mechanisms [48]. McAdam
started a comprehensive air and corrosion fatigue test program from 1920s and very low
corrosion fatigue strengths were found for the carbon and lowalloy steels [48].

In 1940s, large amount of data were collected on the rate of material loss of metal specimens
in various environments and systematic studies on the environmental corrosion of metal [2].
Newman and Procter [39] reviewed the theory and practice of stress corrosion cracking (SCC)
from 1965 to 1990.
The main developments are related to the lack of specificity of SCC environments, fracture
mechanics testing, studies of grain boundary structure, etc.

In 1987 [31], Kayser and Nowak summarized the possible types of bridge corrosion. Large
uncertainties of the structural performance were found due to the inherent randomness in the
deterioration process [32].

Later, a deterioration model was developed and the major parameters for the corrosion of
structural members were identified,

including

the deterioration rate (annual loss) and

pattern (roughening and pitting).

In addition, fatigue strength reduction curves were also defined in the model.

With more accurate stress range prediction results based on the vehicle-bridge dynamic system
and corrosion modeling of deteriorating bridges,

it is possible to evaluate structural reliability considering both the environmental corrosion and
the random vehicle dynamic impacts.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the corrosion fatigue life of existing deteriorating steel
bridges subjected to dynamic vehicle loads.

The dynamic stress ranges were obtained based on vehicle-bridge dynamic analysis for varied
vehicle speeds and road roughness conditions.

Two types of bridge deterioration were considered.

One is the deterioration of the road surface condition, which enters the vehicle-bridge dynamic
system via the interaction forces between the vehicle tires and the bridge. Possible road surface
renovations in the bridge’s life-cycle are considered.

The other type of deterioration is the corrosion of the bridge component, which includes
sectional loss and downward shift of fatigue strength.
Based on the proposed fatigue damage assessment approach, the deterioration effects are
included when evaluating the limit state functions at the end of each stress cycle via updating
the stiffness matrices and the fatigue strength. A nonlinear cumulative fatigue damage model
based on continuum damage mechanics is used in the present study. Therefore, the fatigue life
of the bridge can be obtained by checking the cumulative probability of failure and comparing
it with the target value

Conclusion

With potential significant deterioration in existing bridges and much heavier vehicle loads in
the future, the existing bridges’ safety is going more critical for the nation’s transportation
systems.

Due to the complexity of the mechanism of corrosion fatigue, quantitative fatigue life
predictions are difficult and many interacting factors could influence the corrosion fatigue
behavior.

As a preliminary numerical analysis, the present paper mainly focuses on the corrosion fatigue
effects on fatigue life prediction of deteriorated bridges based on vehicle-bridge dynamic
analysis.

To make a direct comparison with the current AASHTO LRFD bridge design specifications
(2010), S–N curve model is used to simulate the corrosion effects.

In the present study, the fatigue strength reduction is found to be sensitive for the fatigue life
estimation.

It is necessary to have a more refined corrosion model, which is related to the inter-granular
cracks based on linear fracture mechanics, to illustrate the fatigue crack initiation and
propagation under different corrosion levels and different stress levels. With a refined vehicle-
bridge dynamic analysis model and a refined corrosion fatigue model, different rehabilitation
strategies for fatigue life enhancement can be compared virtually and implemented after
experimental verifications to ensure the safety of the deteriorated bridges.