An Investigation on the Parameters Influencing the Pounding in Highway Bridges

The present aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different parameters influencing pounding in highway bridges. Pounding is the result of a collision between two parts of the deck and/or the deck and abutments at the separation distance during the earthquake.  In the present study, the period ratio of the adjacent frames, ground motion spatial variation, and soil-structure interaction were considered as the significant parameters influencing the pounding. Accordingly, 144 different models of bridge were generated by changing characteristics of the piers and spans length, and were subjected to non-linear dynamic analysis. The results indicated that ignoring the effects of soil-structure interaction and ground motion spatial variation led to calculate unrealistic responses in the bridges. Finally, it is found that designing bridges including frames with similar or close period is not regarded as an appropriate solution to reduce the pounding effects in the bridges.