Seismic performance of fibre-reinforced polymer and steel double-reinforced bridge piers

The re-centring ability and durability of important bridges have been the main objectives in recent provisions of seismic design codes. To achieve better recoverability and durability for piers, this article presents a double-reinforced pier configuration, in which the outer layer is reinforced with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar and the inner layer is reinforced with steel rebar. An equal flexural capacity design method was used to determine the double-reinforced configurations. The effects of the potentially influential design parameters on the seismic response of piers were studied and compared to those of conventional RC piers. The results show that the proposed design method can satisfy the ultimate capacity and durability demands. The double-reinforced piers had a better performance than conventional piers in terms of the ductility, post-yield stiffness and residual deformation. The maximum deformation and energy dissipation capacity of the double-reinforced piers were comparable to those of the conventional RC piers. The results also demonstrated that the proportion of steel reinforcement had a clear effect on the performance of double-reinforced piers. However, FRP reinforcement with a high modulus of elasticity should be avoided due to the adverse effect on ductility.