Seismic Fragility of Fixed and Flexible Base RC Bridge under Near-Fault Directivity Effects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22146/jcef.22631Keywords:
Damage assessment, Fragility analysis, Incremental dynamic analysis, Regression analyses, Soil-structure interactionAbstract
Reinforced Concrete bridges are widely used in highway infrastructure due to their cost-effectiveness and structural redundancy. However, they are highly vulnerable to seismic hazards, particularly in near-fault regions where ground motions exhibit extreme intensity and short-duration energy pulses. Near-fault ground motions are characterized by high-energy velocity pulses with long periods, pulse-like waveforms, and significant peak values, which can lead to severe structural damage. As modern design practices shift toward performance-based design, the vulnerability of bridges under these different types of near-fault ground motions have become an emerging area of interest for researchers and designers. However, a common practice is to assume fixed-base conditions for bridge piers during vulnerability assessments, which may lead to inaccurate results. The effect of assuming fixed-base conditions on the vulnerability assessment of bridge piers remains an open question. This study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of seismic damage propagation in a simply supported multi-span RC bridge subjected to near-fault pulse-like ground motions with directivity effects. The bridge is modeled under two distinct foundation conditions: fixed-base and flexible-base, with the latter incorporating soil-structure interaction through a pile group foundation. The analytical framework employs Incremental Dynamic Analysis to develop seismic fragility curves, offering a thorough evaluation of the system-level performance. The results reveal that SSI significantly alters the structural response, with median normalized changes of approximately 27% in drift and 30% in base shear. In some cases, the normalized drift demand increased by up to 76.8%, whereas the normalized base shear decreased by up to 51.1%, indicating substantial shifts in deformation and force distribution. These variations significantly affect the energy dissipation capacity of the bridge, which is essential for mitigating damage progression and enhancing seismic resilience.
References
Ajom, B. and Bhattacharjee, A. (2017), Effect of earthquake on bridge foundation, in ‘13th International Conference on Vibration Problems (ICOVP)’, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, pp. 1–13. URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-15-5862-7
Akkar, S. and Moghimi, S. (2018), Implementation of near-fault forward directivity effects in seismic design codes, in ‘Advances in Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering’, Springer, pp. 183–201. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75741-4_7
Alavi, B. and Krawinkler, H. (2004), ‘Behavior of moment-resisting frame structures subjected to near-fault ground motions’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 33(6), 687–706. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.369
Alipour, A. and Zareian, F. (2008), Study Rayleigh damping in structures: Uncertainties and treatments, in ‘14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (14WCEE)’, Beijing, China. Paper No.14_14-0243. URL: http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/1414 − 0243.PDF
American Petroleum Institute (2007), ‘Recommended practice for planning, designing and constructing fixed offshore platforms — working stress design’. URL: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=enbtnG=Searchq=intitle:Recommended+Practice+for+planning,+designing+and+constructing+fixed+Offshore+Platforms+-+Working+stress+design
Atefatdoost, G. R., Javidsharifi, B. and Shakib, H. (2018), ‘Effects of foundation flexibility on seismic demands of asymmetric buildings subject to nearfault ground motions’, Structural Engineering and Mechanics 66(5), 637–648. URL: https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2018.66.5.637
Baig, M. A., Ansari, M. I., Islam, N. and Umair, M. (2023), ‘Probabilistic damage analysis of isolated steel tub girder bridge excited by near and far fault ground motions’, International Journal of Engineering 36(2), 289–298. URL: https://www.ije.ir/article_160838.html
Baig, M. A., Ansari, M. I., Islam, N. and Umair, M. (2024), ‘Probabilistic damage evaluation of isolated steel box-girder bridge excited by near-field earthquakes’, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 184, 108869. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2024.108869
Baker, J. W. (2007), ‘Quantitative classification of near-fault ground motions using wavelet analysis’, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 97(5), 1486–1501. URL: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120060255
Bárcena, A. and Esteva, L. (2007), ‘Influence of dynamic soil–structure interaction on the nonlinear response and seismic reliability of multistorey systems’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 36(3), 327–346. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.633
Behesthi Aval, S. B., Mohsenian, V. and Sadegh Kouhestani, H. (2018), ‘Seismic performance-based assessment of tunnel form building subjected to near- and far-fault ground motions’, Asian Journal of Civil Engineering 19(1), 79–92. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-018-0009-4
Bi, K. and Hao, H. (2012), ‘Modelling and simulation of spatially varying earthquake ground motions at sites with varying conditions’, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics 29, 92–104. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.probengmech.2011.09.002
Billah, A. H. M. M., Alam, M. S. and Bhuiyan, M. A. R. (2013), ‘Fragility analysis of retrofitted multicolumn bridge bent subjected to near-fault and farfield ground motion’, Journal of Bridge Engineering 18(10), 992–1004. URL: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000452
Bohara, B. K., Abdellatif, B., Deupa, J., Joshi, N. M. and Jagari, S. (2025), ‘Seismic performance of reinforced concrete buildings in darchula, nepal: A fragility-based approach’, Journal of the Civil Engineering Forum pp. 295–306. URL: https://doi.org/10.22146/jcef.21159
Boulanger, R. W., Curras, C. J., Kutter, B. L., Wilson, D. W. and Abghari, A. (1999), ‘Seismic soilpile-structure interaction experiments and analyses’, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 125(9), 750–759. URL: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(1999)125:9(750)
Bureau of Indian Standards (2016), Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures, Technical Report December. URL: https://law.resource.org/pub/in/bis/S03/is.1893.1.2002.pdf
Caltrans (2010), Caltrans seismic design criteria version 1.6, Technical report, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA. URL: https://trid.trb.org/View/1248910
Champion, C. and Liel, A. (2012), ‘The effect of near-fault directivity on building seismic collapse risk’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 41(10), 1391–1409. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.1188
Chen, G., Yang, J., Wang, R., Li, K., Liu, Y. and Beer, M. (2023), ‘Seismic damage analysis due to nearfault multipulse ground motion’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 52(15), 5099–5116. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.4003
Dreger, D., Hurtado, G., Chopra, A. and Larsen, S. (2011), ‘Near-field across-fault seismic ground motions’, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 101(1), 202–221. URL: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120090271
Fauzan, Z. A. J., Agista, G. A., Yokota, A. and Putra, M. E. (2025), ‘Seismic and tsunamis vulnerability assessment of the shelter school building structure with and without retrofitting’, Journal of the Civil Engineering Forum pp. 85–96. URL: https://doi.org/10.22146/jcef.13432
FEMA356 (2000), Prestandard and commentary for the seismic rehabilitation of buildings, Technical report, Federal Emergency Management Agency. URL: https://www.nehrp.gov/pdf/fema356.pdf
FEMA695 (2009), Quantification of building seismic performance factors, fema p695, Technical report, Applied Technology Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C. URL: https://nehrpsearch.nist.gov/static/files/FEMA/femap695.pdf
Gazetas, G. (1982), ‘Shear vibration of vertically inhomogeneous earth dams’, International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics 6(2), 219–241. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.1610060208
Goodnight, J. C., Feng, Y., Kowalsky, M. J. and Nau, J. M. (2015), The effects of load history and design variables on performance limit states of circular bridge columns, Technical Report January, University of Alaska. URL: https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/10378
Güllü, H. and Jaf, H. S. (2016), ‘Full 3d nonlinear time history analysis of dynamic soil–structure interaction for a historical masonry arch bridge’, Environmental Earth Sciences 75(21), 1421. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6230-0
Güllü, H. and Özel, F. (2020), ‘Microtremor measurements and 3d dynamic soil–structure interaction analysis for a historical masonry arch bridge under the effects of near- and far-fault earthquakes’, Environmental Earth Sciences 79(13), 338. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09086-0
Hokmabadi, A. S. and Fatahi, B. (2016), ‘Influence of foundation type on seismic performance of buildings considering soil–structure interaction’, International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics 16(08), 1550043. URL: https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:109585949
Huang, J. (2015), ‘Earthquake damage analysis of concrete gravity dams: Modeling and behavior under near-fault seismic excitations’, Journal of Earthquake Engineering 19(7), 1037–1085. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632469.2015.1027019
Indian Roads Congress (2017), Irc6:2017, Technical report. URL: https://law.resource.org/pub/in/bis/irc/irc.gov.in.006.2017.pdf
Izhar, M. S., Ansari, M. I. and Umair, M. (2024), ‘Correction: Energy based seismic vulnerability assessment tool for reinforced concrete bridges’, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 22(11), 5951–5951. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-024-01986-x
Jiang, L., Zhong, J. and Yuan, W. (2020), ‘The pulse effect on the isolation device optimization of simply supported bridges in near-fault regions’, Structures 27, 853–867. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2020.06.034
Kabir, M. R., Billah, A. H. M. M. and Alam, M. S. (2019), ‘Seismic fragility assessment of a multi-span rc bridge in bangladesh considering near-fault, farfield and long duration ground motions’, Structures 19, 333–348. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2019.01.021
Lai, Z., Jiang, L., Chen, Y. and Wei, B. (2024), ‘An improved model for the nonlinear simulation of the high-speed vehicle-track-bridge coupling system under seismic shaking’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 53(12), 3775–3797. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.4196
Li, S., Zhang, F., Wang, J., Alam, M. S. and Zhang, J. (2017), ‘Effects of near-fault motions and artificial pulse-type ground motions on super-span cablestayed bridge systems’, Journal of Bridge Engineering 22(3). URL: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001008
Mallick, M. and Raychowdhury, P. (2015), ‘Seismic analysis of highway skew bridges with nonlinear soil–pile interaction’, Transportation Geotechnics 3, 36–47. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2015.03.002
Mangalathu, S., Jeon, J.-S. and Jiang, J. (2019), ‘Skew adjustment factors for fragilities of california boxgirder bridges subjected to near-fault and far-field ground motions’, Journal of Bridge Engineering 24(1). URL: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001338
Moniri, H. (2017), ‘Evaluation of seismic performance of reinforced concrete (rc) buildings under near-field earthquakes’, International Journal of Advanced Structural Engineering 9(1), 13–25. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40091-016-0145-6
Naeim, F. and Kelly, J. M. (1999), Design of Seismic Isolated Structures: From Theory to Practice, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. URL: https://www.wiley.com/enus/Design+of+Seismic+Isolated+Structures:From+Theory+to+Practice-p-9780471149217
Najar, I. A., Ahmadi, R., Amuda, A. G., Mourad, R., Bendary, N. E., Ismail, I., Bakar, N. A. and Tang, S. (2025), ‘Advancing soil-structure interaction (ssi): a comprehensive review of current practices, challenges, and future directions’, Journal of Infrastructure Preservation and Resilience 6(1), 5. Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (1999), ‘Strong motion database’. URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43065-025-00118-2
Padgett, J. E., Nielson, B. G. and DesRoches, R. (2008), ‘Selection of optimal intensity measures in probabilistic seismic demand models of highway bridge portfolios’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 37(5), 711–725. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.782
Paudel, S., Maulana, T. I., M., I. and Prayuda, H. (2024), ‘Seismic vulnerability assessment of regular and vertically irregular residential buildings in nepal’, Journal of the Civil Engineering Forum pp. 199–208. URL: https://doi.org/10.22146/jcef.10316
Paulay, T. and Priestley, M. J. N. (1992), Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete and Masonry Buildings, 2nd edn, John Wiley and Sons, New York. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338551990_Seismic_design_of_reinforced_concrete_and_masonry_buildings
Roeder, C. W., Stanton, J. F. and Taylor, A. W. (1987), Performance of elastomeric bearings, Technical Report 298, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. URL: https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrprpt298.pdf
Sharma, V., Shrimali, M. K., Bharti, S. D. and Datta, T. K. (2021), ‘Seismic fragility evaluation of semirigid frames subjected to near-field earthquakes’, Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176, 106384. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2020.106384
Spagnuolo, E., Akinci, A., Herrero, A. and Pucci, S. (2016), ‘Implementing the effect of the rupture directivity on psha for the city of istanbul, turkey’, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 106(6), 2599–2613. URL: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120160020
Takeda, T., Sozen, M. A. and Nielsen, N. N. (1970), ‘Reinforced concrete response to simulated earthquakes’, Journal of the Structural Division 96(12), 2557–2573. URL: https://doi.org/10.1061/JSDEAG.000276
Visuvasam, J. and Chandrasekaran, S. S. (2019), ‘Effect of soil–pile–structure interaction on seismic behaviour of rc building frames’, Innovative Infrastructure Solutions 4(1), 45. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-019-0233-0
Xiong, W., Jiang, L.-Z. and Li, Y.-Z. (2016), ‘Influence of soil–structure interaction (structure-to-soil relative stiffness and mass ratio) on the fundamental period of buildings: experimental observation and analytical verification’, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 14(1), 139–160. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-015-9814-2
Yang, D., Pan, J. and Li, G. (2009), ‘Non-structurespecific intensity measure parameters and characteristic period of near-fault ground motions’, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 38(11), 1257–1280. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.889
Yu, J., Jiang, L., Zhou, W., Liu, X., Lai, Z. and Feng, Y. (2022), ‘Study on the dynamic response correction factor of a coupled high-speed train–track–bridge system under near-fault earthquakes’, Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines 50(9), 3303–3321. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/15397734.2020.1803753
Zhai, C., Chang, Z., Li, S., Chen, Z. and Xie, L. (2013), ‘Quantitative identification of nearfault pulse-like ground motions based on energy’, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 103(5), 2591–2603. URL: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120120320
Zhan, P., Xue, S., Li, X., Sun, G. and Ma, R. (2024), ‘Seismic assessment of large-span spatial structures considering soil–structure interaction (ssi): A state-of-the-art review’, Buildings 14(4), 1174. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14041174
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright is granted to authors for the purpose of providing protection for articles written to describe experiments and their results. JCEF will protect and defend the work and reputation of the author and are also willing to address any allegations of violation, plagiarism, fraud, etc. against articles written and published by JCEF. JCEF is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). The author holds the copyright and assigns the journal rights to the first publication (online and print) of the work simultaneously.
