Recording March 2025

Pushover analysis for seismic bridge design - part II

Pushover analysis is a critical tool for seismic design and assessment of bridges, especially within the context of performance-based design. It provides the basis for capturing non-linear behaviour of bridge bents.

This is further utilized to demonstrate damage and service levels for design compliance. Pushover analysis is also required for determining overstrength demands for capacity-protected elements within the seismic load path.

The first webinar of this series will introduce the participants to the concept of pushover analysis, its utility, and role in performance-based design. This webinar will delve into the fundamentals and show the learners how to carry out the pushover analysis using the powerful nonlinear solver in SOFiSTiK.

The second webinar (which will take place next year in February) will focus on the design compliance demonstration using the pushover analysis tool for both the plastic hinge locations as well as the capacity-protected elements. Design compliance demonstration will be shown for both AASHTO and the Canadian Highway Bridge design Code-based criteria.

Topics:

Seismic design philosophy for bridges - Saqib Khan
Seismic load path of reinforced concrete bridge bents - Saqib Khan
Force-based versus performance-based design - Saqib Khan
Pushover analysis concept and utility - Saqib Khan
Pushover set up and analysis using SOFiSTiK - Jhordy Rodriguez and Andrés von Breymann

Topics for the 2nd webinar:

PBD-based design criteria - Saqib Khan
- AASHTO LRFD Seismic and NCHRP Report No. 949
- CSA-S6-19 (Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code)
Utilizing pushover output for design compliance demonstration - Saqib Khan
- Ductile / plastic hinge elements
- Capacity-protected elements
Example using SOFiSTiK - Jhordy Rodriguez and Andrés von Breymann
Summary and Wrap up - Saqib Khan