Assessment on geotechnical seismic isolation (GSI) on bridge configurations

Abstract

Seismic protection on bridges is one of the most important issue of infrastructure engineering. Recently geotechnical seismic isolation (GSI) has emerged as a solution to protect structures to the destroying effects of earthquakes. It consists of placing a horizontal layer of geosynthetics underneath the building to absorb seismic energy, and thus, to transmit significantly smaller accelerations to the overlying structure. This study aims at considering 3D numerical simulations of a soil–structure system applied to several bridge configurations. In particular, the soil has been performed with nonlinear hysteretic materials and advanced plasticity models. The proposed approach enables to drive the assessment of GSI technique with evaluation of soil non-linear response into a unique twist. Therefore, the paper aims at assessing the cases where GSI becomes detrimental. At the same time, models of structures allow to assess the structural performance, by considering accelerations and displacements at various heights. In this regard, the study can be considered one of the few attempts to evaluate the relatively novel technique of GSI on bridge configurations. It allows to propose new design considerations for engineers and consultants.