Field test and numerical simulation of a full-scale RC pier under multiple lateral impacts

In recent years, the frequent occurrence of vehicle-pier collision accidents have highlighted the necessity of the research on the impact resistance of bridge piers; but until now, most of the studies employed numerical simulations or indoor reduced-scale tests, while the collision tests regarding full-scale reinforced concrete (RC) piers with actual foundations are still scarce. In order to obtain the most realistic impact responses and damage characteristics of RC pier, six successive lateral impact tests on a full-scale RC single-column pier with a monopile foundation were conducted in this study based on a self-designed large-size slide device and a rigid model vehicle. The mass of the model vehicle was 2205 kg and the impact velocity ranged from 3.17 m/s to 8.22 m/s. The tests obtained valuable test data such as vehicular impact forces, and lateral displacements, accelerations and damage pattern of the RC pier under all the six collision trials. Furthermore, finite element (FE) simulations were also performed and validated against the test results, where several problems of the commonly-used FE simulation techniques are revealed. In addition, the influences of multiple (successive) impacts on the impact forces and dynamic behavior of the pier are also discussed in this paper. This study provides valuable experimental data for the current research on RC piers subjected to vehicle collisions, and also references for the numerical simulations and theoretical analysis of RC columns under multiple lateral impacts.