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Seismic behavior of hybrid (steel/GFRP) reinforced concrete circular bridge piers: Numerical approach

Research Authors
Ahmed N Arafa, Ahmed Gamal, Shehata E Abdel Raheem, Mohamed K Nafadi
Research Department
Research Date
Research Year
2025
Research Journal
Structural Concrete
Research Publisher
wiley
Research Rank
Q2
Research Website
https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.70212
Research Abstract

 

Hybrid resistance systems employing steel and fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) can be an optimum solution for more ductile structures with high energy dissipation ability and reasonable seismic force reduction factor. Since the available experimental data on the seismic behavior of hybrid (steel/FRP) reinforced concrete circular bridge piers remains limited; this article presents a comprehensive numerical study to investigate the effect of different parameters on their behavior. A 3D finite element model (FEM) that takes into account the material and geometric nonlinearity and the bond behavior of steel and glass FRP (GFRP) reinforcement was performed and calibrated against the available experimental data. The calibrated FEM was then used to perform a parametric study to evaluate different GFRP replacement ratios and configurations from the perspective of different seismic design performance levels. The analysis included strength, deformation capacity, energy dissipation, residual damage, ductility, and the equivalent viscous damping. The results indicate that the hybrid RC columns demonstrate significant displacements while maintaining controlled residual deformations. Furthermore, the simulated hybrid RC columns exhibited acceptable ductile flexural behavior. Based on the findings of the parametric study, the optimum mixing ratios between steel/GFRP bars are proposed.

Research Rank
International Journal