The impact of a PEER funded research project, "A Systematic Computational Framework for Multi-span Bridge PBEE Applications" is highlighted below. The project Principal Investigator (PI) is Ahmed Elgamal, Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, UC San Diego. The research team includes Jinchi Lu, Associate Project Scientist, UC San Diego and Abdullah S. Almutairi, Graduate Student Researcher, UC San Diego.
Download the Research Project Highlight which includes the abstract. (PDF)
Research Impact:
Seismic response and failure mechanisms of highway bridges, which are critical lifelines in a transportation network, continue to receive much research attention. Tools and guidelines that allow bridge engineers to use nonlinear THA as well as PBEE for design/assessment of ordinary bridges will improve safety and mobility across California and enhance the performance of bridges in seismic events. This project will develop an integrated computational framework for combining nonlinear THA of multi-span bridge systems with PBEE assessments that estimate the probabilistic repair cost and repair time. In addition, the carbon footprint of repair will be included as a sustainability metric. The integrated computational tool will allow bridge engineers to efficiently conduct nonlinear THA studies with PBEE assessments for a wide range of multi-span bridge configurations within a seamless integrated simulation environment. On this basis, the bridge engineers can compare the effectiveness of different bridge design options and evaluate the performance of bridges. In addition, this research project will provide the stake-holders with a valuable tool that contributes to economic-based and environment-based decision making. The project builds on prior PEER research to integrate research outcomes into robust next generation seismic computational assessment tools for bridge systems.
The framework can also incorporate the latest research outcomes from other related PEER work when available (e.g., an advanced abutment/shear-key model, or an updated PBEE-type framework).