ABSTRACT
This paper is to investigate the effect of various parameters, including flange plate width-to-thickness ratio, column slenderness ratio and axial force ratio, on strength and ductility of steel bridge box piers made of high strength steel SM570 subjected to cyclic loading. To this end, the elasto-plastic behavior, strength and ductility of the steel bridge piers under cyclic loadings are simulated through inelastic large deformation analysis, in which a modified two-surface model is incorporated to trace the material nonlinearity. An extensive parametric study is carried out to investigate the effects of structural parameters on the strength and ductility capacity. From these analytical investigations, new formulae for predicting strength and ductility of steel bridge piers made of SM570 steel are proposed. This study extends the strength and ductility evaluation of steel bridge piers from SS400, SM490 steels to SM570 steel, and provides some useful suggestions.
