Effect of Replacing Concrete with Elastomeric Pad on Seismic Behavior of Circular RC Bridge Pier

The novel concept of this study is to investigate the effect of replacing concrete with elastomeric pad on drift and strain energy absorption of RC bridge pier using finite element method. A total seven concrete bridge piers were analyzed in nonlinear finite element software. The foundation bottom surface of pier was subjected to the velocity of Kobe earthquake and a constant axial load was applied on the top of pier. The gravity force due to gravity acceleration was also considered. Dimensions, boundary and loading conditions were the same for all of seven models. Material of one model was completely concrete while the other six models included an elastomeric pad with different thicknesses and placements. In three models, thickness of elastomeric pad varied from 510 mm to 120 cm while in the other three models an elastomeric pad with 510 mm thickness was situated to three different places of the piers. The results showed that the best thickness of the elastomeric pad is 32 percent of gross pier length at the point of column-foundation connection.