Application of First -Order Second - Moment Level 2 Reliability Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Bridges

A numerical approach to the reliability analysis of prestressed reinforced concrete long span bridges is presented. Bridge is modeled by finite element software and the analysis is accomplished in the form of non-linear time history analysis. Considered random variables are: the specific strength of concrete; yielding stress of steel bars; yielding stress of presstressed bars; all sectional dimensions; structural damping ratio; effective depth of steel bars; magnitude and PGA of earthquake. The proposed procedure is applied to evaluate the reliability of an existing prestressed arch concrete bridge located in Bandar –e- Anzali in Iran. Bandar –e-Anzali is a very high-risk earthquake occurring place.; Results of the study show that the structural damping ratio, magnitude and PGA of earthquakes have a significant effect on the variation of reliability in the structure, While Variation in dimensions of the structure has a little effect on the reliability index.

Keywords:

Structural reliability , non-linear analysis , arch bridge , prestressed concrete structures