the effect of direction of orthogonal horizontal components of earthquake on the nonlinear response of skewed bridges

the effects due to the combination of bilateral skewed horizontal components of earthquakes on the nonlinear responses of the skewed bridge piersare investigated using a time domain nonlinear finite element program. seismic responses of bridge piers are evaluated realistically by simultaneously applying the both horizontal components of earthquake strong ground motions. analyzes have been done with varying angle of horizontal components of the ground motion from 0° to 90° relative to the bridge deck to find out the effect of direction of components of earthquake on nonlinear response of a bridge piers. a 3d nonlinear model of foothill bridge in california was constructed. the plastic hinge formation trends, hysteresis cycles and base shear values of piers have been investigated. numerical results show that the response of skewed bridge piers are affected by varying the direction of horizontal components of earthquake.