Development of adjustable variable stiffness restrainer for bridge subjected to seismic excitation

This paper presents a numerical and experimental assessment of a developed adjustable variable stiffness restrainer (AVSR) utilized for short span bridges. This restrainer has the ability to demonstrate multi stiffness capacity in different stages of bridge’s superstructure movement to mitigate the severe damage of bridge due to an earthquake. The multi-level stiffness behavior of developed AVSR is achieved by using multiple mechanical springs with different lengths and placed in parallel in proposed design. A small prototype of developed AVSR has been fabricated and tested under incremental and cyclic loading in order to assess the restrainer performance and the behavior has been validated using finite element analysis. Thereafter, the constitutive model of AVSR was derived for the proposed restrainer in order to implement it in numerical simulations. Furthermore, a parametric study has been conducted numerically to evaluate the effectiveness of different parameters on the restrainer capacity. Moreover, the efficiency of AVSR application in a single degree of freedom system has been assessed by performing seismic analysis on a frame equipped with AVSR subjected to different seismic excitations using Newmarkʼs method. The experimental and finite element results proved the efficiency of developed variable stiffness device to exhibit adjustable action against imposed loads in three designed stages. Furthermore, the parametric study results revealed that increasing the section area of the spring wire leads to increase the restrainer capacity. In contrast, the restrainer resistance is declined by an increase in the mean spring diameter and number of coils for each spring of AVSR. The time history analysis results also indicated that the frame response in terms of displacement, velocity and acceleration is improved by implementing the AVSR in the considered system.