Development of Nonlinear Models for the Earthquake Response of Railway Bridges

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9522125 Maragakis Railway bridges are a critical component of the transportation infrastructure. Many of them are located in densely populated areas with high seismic risk. A basic knowledge of the seismic response characteristics and performance of these structures is important. An important feature of railway bridge dynamics is the rail-ties-ballast system which extends over the adjacent roadbed and probably provides additional strength to the structures. A recent dynamic test of a ballasted railway bridge sheds some light into the complexity of the dynamic interaction involved in rail-ballast systems. In this project a series of identification studies will be performed by using the available field data in order to identify important stiffness parameters of various elements of the bridge. The data from the failure tests conducted at the University of Nevada on ballasted and unballasted systems will be used for the development of failure elements and their incorporation into nonlinear models. The developed models will be used for the prediction of the response of typical railway bridges to earthquake excitations. A study of these responses will indicate needs for retrofitting. This project will improve the capability of modeling the nonlinear dynamic response of railway bridges which are a critical component of the nation's transportation networks. ***