Experimental Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Column-Bent Piers under Bidirectional Repeated Loading

Response of reinforced concrete (RC) column-bent piers subjected to bidirectional seismic loadings was experimentally investigated. RC column-bent piers represent one of the most popular shapes of piers used in Korea highway bridges. Four column-bent piers were constructed in 400 mm diameter and 2,000 mm height. Each pier has two circular supporting columns. These piers were tested under bidirectional lateral load reversals with an axial load of . The test parameters included : different transverse reinforcement contents and lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcing steels. Test results indicate that the lap splice of longitudinal reinforcing steels have significantly influenced on hysteretic response of column-bent piers similar to previous test results for single columns with corresponding test parameters. Column capacity was changed with the level of transverse confinement. From the comparison of test result for single column under unidirectional loading, the damage of single column was concentrated on lower plastic hinge region but the damage of column-bent piers was scattered to upper and lower plastic hinge region.