Estimation of Yielding, Design, and Ultimate Displacements based on

Japanese Design Method

24, August, 2006
TIT, Seiji Nagata
TIT, Tomohiro Sasaki
1. Definitions based on Japanese Seismic Design Specifications

a) Initial yield moment M y 0 , initial yield curvature φ y 0 , ultimate moment M u , and ultimate
curvature φu , of the bottom of a pier are obtained based on fiber element analysis.

b) The initial yielding moment M y 0 and initial yielding curvature φ y 0 of the column base are
defined as the moment and curvature when tensile strain of the outmost main reinforcements
reaches the yield strain ε sy , respectively.

c) The ultimate moment M u and ultimate curvature φu are defined, respectively, as the moment
and curvature when concrete compression strain at the outmost reinforcements reaches the ultimate
strain ε cu .

d) The yielding moment M y and yielding curvature φ y of the section are defined as the moment
and curvature at the elastic limit point from elasto-plastic envelop curve shown in Fig. 1.
M P

Mu Pu

My Py

φ u
φ y0 φ y φu u y0 u y uu

(a) Moment vs. Curvature (b) Flexural Strength vs. Lateral Displacement
Fig. 1 Definition of Yield Curvature and Yield Displacement

e) The lateral strength of the pier Pu is defined as

M
Pu = u (1)
h
in which h : height of a column from the bottom to the point where inertia force of the deck apply.

f) The ultimate displacement of the pier uu is evaluated from the yielding and ultimate curvatures
φ y and φu as
uu = d y + (φu − φ y )(h − L p / 2)L p (2)

in which h : height of the pier, and L p : plastic hinge length ( L p = 0.5 D , D :width of the pier).

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g) The allowable displacement ductility factor µ a are provided as
uu − u y
µa = 1 + (3)
α ⋅ uy
in which α : safety factor depending on importance of bridges and the type of ground motion
( α =1.5 for important bridges under the Type-II ground motions such as Kobe Earthquake), u y and
uu : yielding and ultimate displacements of the pier.

h) The design level displacement (allowable displacement) is defined here from the allowable
ductility factor µ a and the yielding displacement u y as

ua = µ a ⋅ u y (4)

i) The ultimate displacement ductility factor µu are defined here as

u
µu = u (5)
uy
in which u y and uu : yielding and ultimate displacements of the pier.

2. Evaluation of Seismic Performance of the Specimens on the Japanese design codes

Evaluation of seismic performance of the specimens P1, P2, P3, and P4 (see Fig. 2) are summarized
in Table 1 (weak axis) and Table 2 (weak axis). In the estimation, the mechanical properties of steel
reinforcements from the tensile tests were used. For example, the initial yielding displacement of
the four piers ranges from 17.5 mm to 19.2 mm in the weak axis. The design level ductility µ a of
the piers ranges from 3.6 to 3.87 in the weak axis. The ultimate ductility µu of four piers ranges
from 4.8 to 5.3 in the weak axis. It is noted that the ultimate displacement estimated in the Japanese
codes must be conservative to see visible damage in experiment such as spalling off of core
concrete, as well as buckling of reinforcements.
400 440

120 80
280

280

(a) Column P1 (b) Column P2

400 440

120 133
280
280

(c) Column P3 (d) Column P4

Fig. 2 Cross Section of the Test Specimens

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 Table 1 Evaluation of the Test Specimens based on Japanese Design Codes (Weak axis)

Specimen ID P1 P2 P3 P4

Section Type Interlocking Rectangler

Width of section D (strong axis) mm 400 440 400 440

Width of section D (weak axis) mm 280

Column height h mm 2193

Plastic hing length L p mm 140

Initianal yield moment M y 0 kNm 80.1 82.1 91.3 91.9

Yield moment M y kNm 106.9 107.5 102.9 103.5

Ultimate moment M u kNm 106.9 107.5 102.9 103.5

Initianal yield curvature φ y 0 1/m 1.32 x 10-2 1.30 x 10-2 1.23 x 10-2 1.27 x 10-2

Yield curvature φ y 1/m 1.76 x 10-2 1.69 x 10-2 1.39 x 10-2 1.37 x 10-2

Ultimate curvature φu 1/m 3.48 x 10-1 3.46 x 10-1 2.71 x 10-1 2.98 x 10-1

Initianal yield strength Py 0 kN 36.4 37.3 41.5 41.8

Yield strength Py kN 48.6 48.9 46.8 47.0

Ultimate strength Pu kN 48.6 48.9 46.8 47.0

Initianal yield displacement u y 0 mm 19.2 18.9 17.8 17.5

Yield displacement u y mm 25.7 24.7 20.1 19.7

Design level displacement ua mm 91.4 90.1 71.2 76.2

Ultimate displacement uu mm 124.2 122.8 96.7 104.4

Allowable ductility facter µ a 3.56 3.64 3.54 3.87

Ultimate ductility facter µu 4.84 4.97 4.82 5.31

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 Table 2 Evaluation of the Test Specimens based on Japanese Design Codes (Strong axis)

Specimen ID P1 P2 P3 P4

Section Type Interlocking Rectangler

Width of section D (strong axis) mm 400 440 400 440

Width of section D (weak axis) 280

Column height h mm 2193

Plastic hing length L p 140

Initianal yield moment M y 0 kNm 103.2 110.5 109.7 122.5

Yield moment M y kNm 153.6 171.2 142.2 160.5

Ultimate moment M u kNm 153.6 171.2 142.2 160.5

Initianal yield curvature φ y 0 1/m 8.94 x 10-3 7.88 x 10-3 8.38 x 10-3 7.42 x 10-3

Yield curvature φ y 1/m 1.33 x 10-2 1.22 x 10-2 1.09 x 10-2 9.70 x 10-3

Ultimate curvature φu 1/m 2.43 x 10-1 2.43 x 10-1 1.38 x 10-1 1.36 x 10-1

Initianal yield strength Py 0 kN 46.9 50.2 49.8 55.7

Yield strength Py kN 69.8 77.8 64.6 73.0

Ultimate strength Pu kN 69.8 77.8 64.6 73.0

Initianal yield displacement u y 0 mm 13.0 11.3 11.9 10.5

Yield displacement u y mm 19.3 17.5 15.4 13.8

Design Level displacement ua mm 65.0 63.4 40.6 38.9

Ultimate displacement uu mm 87.8 86.4 53.3 51.5

Allowable ductility facter µ a 3.36 3.61 2.64 2.82

Ultimate ductility facter µu 4.55 4.92 3.47 3.73