An Emulative Precast Segmental Concrete Bridge Column for Seismic Regions

This work proposes a new precast segmental concrete bridge column. The lower region of the column is built using cast-in-place (CIP) construction. The height of the CIP region and level of post-tensioning force in the precast region are selected such that the ultimate condition of the column under seismic loading is governed by a conventional plastic hinge mechanism in the CIP region. A tall column was constructed and subjected to cyclic loading. Test results indicate that the column has excellent ductility and energy dissipation. A pushover analytical method was proposed and applied to the proposed column. This method captured joint opening through the joint rotation length and the amount of curvature exceeding the cracking curvature. Analytical results agree well with test results in predicting the envelope of hysteretic behavior, the increase in axial force in the precast region, and the contribution of precast and CIP regions to column displacement.