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Seismic performance of precast piers with staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection

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Abstract

Three scale models of prefabricated piers were designed and manufactured to investigate the impact of staggered longitudinal reinforcement—ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) connections on seismic performance. The failure modes, hysteresis curves, backbone curves, ductility, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation capacity of each model were compared and analyzed through quasi-static testing and numerical simulation. The test results demonstrate that the precast assembled pier, incorporating staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connections, exhibits high bearing capacity and stiffness, effectively enhancing its overall and seismic performance during the early and middle stages; The primary factor contributing to the bond failure of staggered longitudinal reinforcement is the cracking and spalling of UHPC, which directly impacts the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of piers. This paper establishes a prediction formula for the horizontal peak bearing capacity of compression-bending failure piers, based on the strut-and-tie model. The formula takes into account the strength of the staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection area, the staggered spacing of the longitudinal reinforcement, the spacing of the stirrups, and the axial compression ratio. By variable parameter analysis and a comparative assessment with the ACI318-19 standard formula, it is evident that the formula proposed in this paper demonstrates desirable accuracy and applicability, offering valuable guidance for the seismic design and structural optimization of prefabricated piers.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

\(a\) :

Angle between the UHPC compression bar and the horizontal stirrup

Acs :

Cross-sectional area of the end of the strut

\({\text{A}}_{{\text{e}}}\) :

Elastic deformation energy of the structure

Ag :

The total cross-sectional area of the column

\({\text{A}}_{{\text{h}}}\) :

Area of the single-loop hysteresis loop

As :

The area of tension reinforcement

Av :

The cross-sectional area of the shear stirrup within the spacing

cn :

Width of the UHPC compression zone

C40:

Concrete with a nominal compressive strength of 40 MPa

D:

Diameter of the steel bar

Dc :

Compression damage parameter

DCSU:

Double-column pier with staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection specimen

Es :

Modulus of elasticity of reinforcement

Esh :

Hardened stiffness of reinforcement

F max :

Horizontal ultimate bearing capacity of the compression-bending damaged piers

f u :

Ultimate strength of the steel bar

\(f_{{{\text{ce}}}}^{{\text{s}}}\) :

Effective compressive strength of UHPC

\(f_{c}^{\prime }\) :

Compressive strength of concrete cylinder

fy :

The yield strength of reinforcement

fyt :

The standard value of stirrup yield strength

HRB400:

Steel reinforcement with a nominal yield strength of 400 MPa

LVDT:

Linear variable displacement transducer

L:

Vertical distance from the loading point to the UHPC-NC section

l :

Spacing of stirrups

L0 :

Calculated height of the column

LT :

Height of the staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection zone

m:

Number of stirrup spacing in the connection area

M 1p :

Equivalent yield bending moment of the the potential failure surface 1

M 2p :

Equivalent yield bending moment of the the potential failure surface 2

n:

Number of minimum force elements of the staggered longitudinal bars between the two stirrups

N c :

UHPC compression strut

P :

Test shaft pressure

P m :

Peak load

P u :

Ultimate load

P y :

Yield load

s:

Spacing of the staggered longitudinal bars

SCIC:

Single-Column Integral Cast-in-place specimen

SCSU:

Single-column pier with staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection specimen

T :

Tension provided by the strut-and-tie model

T uc :

Maximum tension of the element when the UHPC strut is damaged

T uz :

Maximum tensile force of the element when the longitudinal bar yields

T z :

Tension in the longitudinal bar

ΣT :

Total tension of the staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection area

UHPC:

Utra-high performance concrete

V n :

The nominal shear strength

V u :

The shear bearing capacity

x:

Width of the strut

\(\beta_{s}\) :

Effective coefficient of the concrete compression bar

\(\theta\) :

Indirect lap failure angle

\(\phi\) :

The strength reduction factor

∆y :

Yield displacement

∆m :

Peak displacement

∆u :

Ultimate displacement

\(\xi_{eq}\) :

Equivalent viscous damping ratio

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51808046), the Key R&D Program Projects in Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2021SF-461) and the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2021JM-167).

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51808046), the Key R&D Program Projects in Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2021SF-461) and the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2021JM-167).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Ergang Xiong, Junce Zhang, Zhongxing Mei & Tao Cao

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Ertugrul Taciroglu

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  1. Ergang Xiong
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Ergang Xiong: Experiment conducted, Investigation, Writing-original draft. Junce Zhang: Conceptualization, Writing-original draft, Methodology. Zhongxin Mei: Supervision. Tao Cao: Supervision. Ertugrul Taciroglu: Supervision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ergang Xiong.

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Xiong, E., Zhang, J., Mei, Z. et al. Seismic performance of precast piers with staggered longitudinal reinforcement-UHPC connection. Bull Earthquake Eng 22, 3093–3123 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-024-01893-1

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