A PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF BRIDGES AS A FUNCTION OF THE DCFP DEVICE PROPERTIES

Abstract

The present investigation examines how the properties of the double concave friction pendulum (DCFP) devices influence the seismic performance of isolated multi-span continuous deck bridges. The numerical simulations are carried out using an eight-degree-of-freedom model to reproduce the elastic behavior of the pier, associated to the assumption of both rigid abutment and rigid deck, and the non-linear velocity-dependent behavior of the two surfaces of the double concave friction pendulum isolators, under a set of natural records with different characteristics. The results in terms of the statistics related to the relevant response parameters are computed in non-dimensional form with respect to the seismic intensity considering different properties of both DCFP isolators and bridge.