Dynamic Response of Bridges to Near and Far Fault, Forward Directivity Ground Motions

In this study, we assessed the performance of a concrete bridge under the dynamic strain of an earthquake in the near and far domain of earth’s faults. With respect to available data and showing the effects of key factors and variables, we have examined the bridge’s performance. The modelling of a double span bridge has been done in CSI Bridge software and has been compared and examined to assess the capability of a bridge under the strain of a close-to-fault-line earthquake and a far-from-fault-line earthquake. Timeline interpretation was done on the resulting models and from 7 records from the past earthquakes and it was observed that the close to fault line earthquakes caused much bigger displacements when compared to far from fault line earthquakes. Bridges which are separated by a quake separator, have an acceptable response to far from fault line earthquakes. This means that by disassembling these bridges, the acceleration rate on the deck, the cut of the base, as well as the relative displacement of the deck relative to the undivided bridge, is reduced. This issue is not reflected in the response of the bridges to faults near earthquakes. By investigating the record of near-earthquakes, it was observed that these earthquakes produced large displacements to earthquakes that are far from faults, which could make the isolation system more critical, so, to avoid this event, it FDGM should be used to reform the response these bridges have to the earthquake.
Based on these results, it can be stated that the displacements near the fault and with the effect of progressive movement will be greater than the distances from the fault, so that for the ratio of different distances from the fault, the lower this ratio is, the maximum displacement of the bridge and the maximum cutting force will also be greater.