Investigating Seismic Response of Pile-Supported Wharf under the Effect of Loading and Unloading Cranes

Many researchers have investigated seismic performance of pile supported wharfs, but few studies are conducted to examine the effect of loading and unloading cranes on seismic responses of this type of wharfs. This was due to an expired belief which considers the crane as a damper for the structure beneath and reduces the seismic responses of the wharf. Since, ignoring the crane would enhance the safety factor of the design. This research aims to find the impact of crane on seismic responses of a pile supported wharf. Hence, a common type of pile supported wharf by specified geotechnical and structural parameters used in Persian Gulf ports with and without crane is 3-D modeled in SAP2000. Assessment of the seismic responses of the wharf is done via an incremental dynamic analysis. Finally, by using the destruction criterions which are adapted from push-over analysis, fragility curves of the wharf are proposed in three different moods. Analyzing and observing the resulting values and curves show that a crane does not affect the seismic and vulnerability responses of the wharf in the direction parallel to the seashore however, in the direction perpendicular to the seashore, despite of the reduction of the wharf seismic responses the vulnerability responses increase.