Seismic Performance of a Full-Size Polypropylene Fiber-Reinforced Cement Composite Bridge Column Based on E-Defense Shake Table Experiments

Abstract

E-Defense shake table experiments on a 7.5 m tall, 1.8 m by 1.8 m square bridge column using polypropylene fiber-reinforced cement composites (PFRC) at the plastic hinge region and part of the footing is presented. The column was excited using 80% of the original intensity of the near-field ground motion recorded at the JR Takatori Station during the 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake. Use of PFRC mitigated cover and core concrete damage, local buckling of longitudinal bars, and deformation of ties even after six times of repeated excitation. The damage sustained was much less than the damage of regular reinforced concrete columns.