Seismic performance of self-centering rocking bents considering soil-structure interaction

The rocking bridge has attracted a significant research interest, due to its excellent self-centering capacity after the severe earthquake. However, the vast majority of previous studies on the seismic behavior of rocking bents were usually conducted based on the assumption of the rigid bedrock without considering of soil-structure interaction (SSI). Hence, this paper investigates the seismic performance of the self-centering rocking bent considering the SSI effect. Focusing on the double-column self-centering rocking bent equipped with and without angle steels (SCRB-A and SCRB) and the conventional double-column reinforced concrete bent (RCB), the high-fidelity finite element models considering the SSI effect are established. The seismic responses of the bents with fixed-base (without SSI) and flexible-base (with SSI) are comparatively evaluated. The influence of the shear wave velocity of soil on the seismic behavior of the bents with the SSI is also discussed. The results show that the SSI has significantly effect on the seismic responses of the three bents. The displacement responses are generally increased when the SSI is considered, and the amplifications of the seismic responses of the SCRB-A and SCRB considering SSI are more obvious than those of the RCB. With the increase of the shear wave velocity, the influence of the SSI on the displacement responses of the RCB becomes progressively less sensitive, however, the totally different trends can be found in the SCRB-A and SCRB with SSI. Moreover, SCRB-A exhibits better seismic performance when compared with the SCRB and RCB for the cases with or without the SSI effect.