Vehicle Collision with Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns

Abstract

This paper evaluates the peak dynamic force (PDF) and the equivalent static force (ESF) of the vehicle collision with reinforced concrete bridge columns through an extensive finite element (FE) analyses. An extensive parametric study of thirteen parameters was conducted. Three approaches were considered during the course of this research to investigate the ESF. In the first approach, stiffness based, the ESF was defined as the static force producing the same maximum displacement which is produced by a vehicle collision at the point of impact. In the second approach, the ESF was calculated following the Eurocode. In the third approach, PTMSA, the ESF was defined as the peak of the 25 millisecond moving average. The different ESFs were compared to the ESF of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials-Load and Resistance Factor Design (AASHTO-LRFD; 2,670 kN (600 kips)). In general, the ESF calculated following the Eurocode presented the lower bound while those from the stiffness based approach presented the upper bound. The recommended ESF of the AASHTO-LRFD was found to be non-conservative for some cases and too conservative for others. This research proposed an equation to calculate a design impact force which is function of the vehicle’s mass and velocity. This paper proposed a simplified equation based on the Eurocode equation of the ESF. However, the proposed equations do not need cumbersome FE analyses