Case Study

Seismic Response of Single Pylon Cable-Stayed Bridge

under Scour Effect
Qiang Han1; Jianian Wen2; Xiuli Du3; and Chao Huang4
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Abstract: For a bridge located in a seismically active and flood-prone region, the occurrence of earthquakes combined with flood-induced
scour is a highly possible multihazard event. This study quantifies the scour effect on the seismic performance of a single pylon cable-stayed
bridge under bidirectional earthquake excitations. Three-dimensional finite-element models, considering the nonlinear soil–structure interac-
tion, the flexure–shear behavior of the bridge pier, and the hydrodynamic force applied to bridge structures, are built on the OpenSees platform.
Several scour depths are considered in this study to represent various scour intensities within the service life of the cable-stayed bridge. The
modal analyses indicate that the periods of the few vibration modes (fourth and fifth modes) of the cable-stayed bridge increase as the scour
progresses, and the scour effects gradually diminish for higher and lower vibration modes (first, second, and third modes). The results of the
nonlinear time history analyses indicate that the moments on the piles increase as scour progresses, while the moment demand of the pier
decreases. The moment in the pylon of the scoured bridge is much larger than the intact bridge due to the higher pounding potentials with the
increase of scour depth. Obviously, the failure modes of the cable-stayed bridge transform from the pier to the piles and the abutments. In addi-
tion, the impact of the hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of the bridge is negligibly small. The findings of this study can be used to
guide the seismic design and the retrofitting of cable-stayed bridges under scour-critical conditions. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-
5592.0001413. © 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Earthquake; Scour; Hydrodynamic force; Dynamic characteristics; Nonlinear seismic response analysis.

Introduction
In recent decades, the single pylon cable-stayed bridge has become
one of the most popular bridge types in engineering practice due to
its appealing aesthetics, excellent spanning capacity, rapid and sim-
ple construction, and efficient utilization of structural materials
(Casciati et al. 2008; Ali and Abdel-Ghaffar 1995; Han et al. 2019).
Cable-stayed bridges play an important role in the modern transpor-
tation networks; consequently, they are proven to remain safe and
serviceable under potential multihazard conditions. For cable-
stayed bridges located in seismicity flood-prone regions, the occur-
rence of earthquakes combined with flood-induced scour is a possi-
ble multihazard event (Yilmaz et al. 2016; Lee et al. 2014). Flood
events could cause severe scour at bridge foundations by erosion or
removal of the streambed or bank material around bridge piers and
abutments (Liang et al. 2009). The scour hole could have a great
influence on the dynamic response of bridges over waterways and
1
Professor, Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster
Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Univ. of Technology,
Beijing 100124, China (corresponding author). Email: qhan@bjut.edu.cn
2
Ph.D. Student, Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster
Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Univ. of Technology,
Beijing 100124, China. Email: wjn@emails.bjut.edu.cn
3
Professor, Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster
Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Univ. of Technology,
Beijing 100124, China. Email: duxiuli@bjut.edu.cn
4
Associate Professor, Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster
Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Univ. of Technology,
Beijing 100124, China. Email: bjuthuang@163.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on March 30, 2018; approved on
December 17, 2018; published online on April 5, 2019. Discussion period
open until September 5, 2019; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Bridge
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702.
may lead to bridge collapses (Lee et al. 2013). Therefore, it is neces-
sary to check the seismic performance of a cable-stayed bridge in
the presence of flood-induced scour to ensure safety.
In recent years, more and more researchers have started to inves-
tigate the effects of the combined earthquake and flood-induced
scour on the performance of pile foundation and bridges. Several
researchers (Banerjee and Prasad 2013; Yilmaz et al. 2016; You
et al. 2013; Chen and Guo 2015; Liu et al. 2016; Liang et al. 2017;
Liao et al. 2018) have focused on the seismic fragility characteris-
tics of different reinforced concrete (RC) bridges under the com-
bined effects of earthquake and flood-induced scour. These studies
have demonstrated that the seismic fragility characteristics of the
bridges depend on the scour depth and the types of bridges, and
scour also has a significant influence on the failure modes.
Generally, the pile foundations have a potential risk of failure, and
the failure probability of the bridge increases with the scour depth.
However, for some cases, the scour effect has a positive effect on
the seismic responses of the bridges. Leaning toward bridge design,
Alipour et al. (2013) and Wang et al. (2014) investigated the load
factors to consider the combined effects of scour and earthquake
hazards while designing bridges through a reliability-based
approach. Klinga and Alipour (2015) estimated scour effects on the
lateral performance of an RC bridge supported on pile-group foun-
dations using pushover analysis. It was observed that the lateral re-
sistance of the structure decreases as the scour depth increases.
Banerjee and Prasad (2011) and Fioklou and Alipour (2014) per-
formed a time history analysis to evaluate the seismic responses of
RC bridges under scour conditions. From their time history analy-
sis, it was observed that scour has a significant effect on the seismic
vulnerability of the bridges.
Previous studies are important to the understanding of the scour
effects on the seismic behavior of RC bridges. However, the
described studies are only focused on the scour effects on the seis-
mic behavior of the pile foundations or regular RC bridges. To

© ASCE 05019007-1 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

 achieve specific engineering goals, for example, crossing a river
with a very deep flow depth, a cable-stayed bridge may be designed
and constructed. In this case, the seasonal flood might induce con-
siderable scour to the substructure of such cable-stayed bridges
(Chen et al. 2014). Although the scoured cable-stayed bridges could
provide sufficient resistance under normal loads, the possibility of
future earthquakes may significantly challenge the safety of these
cable-stayed bridges. Consequently, it is necessary to assess the
seismic response of cable-stayed bridges with scoured pile foun-
dations. Although the fragility curve in the previous studies is an
effective tool to perform seismic risk analysis, the simplified
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
bridge model and simple failure mode cannot properly reflect the
complex seismic responses of the superstructures and the pile
foundations. (Wang et al. 2014). The cable-stayed bridge exhibits
a more complex system comprised of soil, piles, piers, and super-
structures (Li et al. 2017). Therefore, an accurate finite-element
(FE) model of the cable-stayed bridge is developed, considering
the effects of nonlinear soil–structure interaction (SSI) and flex-
ure–shear mechanisms on the dynamic response of the bridge
components. Cable-stayed bridges always contain foundations
and piers underwater. It is known that dynamic characteristics of
the bridges located in the water may be affected by a hydrody-
namic force under earthquake excitation (Du et al. 2014).
Therefore, an integrated analysis involving water–soil–structure
interaction to evaluate the hydrodynamic force on the bridge
under scour conditions is sorely needed.
Motivated by the need of a detailed evaluation of the scour effect
on the seismic performance of cable-stayed bridges, the signifi-
cance of the present research is to (1) illustrate the scour effect on
Fig. 1. General view of the example cable-stayed bridge.
© ASCE 05019007-2
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007
the dynamic characteristics of the cable-stayed bridge, (2) achieve a
better understanding of the failure modes of the cable-stayed bridge
with scour conditions under bidirectional excitations, and (3) reveal
the effect of hydrodynamic force on the seismic responses of the
cable-stayed bridge under extreme scour conditions. The analytical
results given in this paper could provide guidance to the seismic
design and retrofitting of cable-stayed bridges.
Prototype and Numerical Model of Single Pylon
Cable-Stayed Bridge
The prototype of the cable-stayed bridge used in this study is the
Longwan Bridge crossing the Jian River in Guizhou Province,
China (Han et al. 2018). The Longwan Bridge is a nonsymmetric
semiharp-type cable-stayed bridge with two side spans of 120 and
114 m (Fig. 1). The single pylon, constructed of RC, has a height of
62 m and sustains each side span with 16 pairs of stay cables. The
deck of the cable-stayed bridge consists of a five-cell prestressed
concrete box girder. The pier has a hollow rectangular cross section
of 19.9
7.4 m. The pile group consists of 28 circular piles of 1.5 m
in diameter and 45 m in length. The bridge has a fully rigid deck–
pylon connection to reduce the deformation of the superstructure
under service loads. Each end of the deck is simply supported at the
abutments.
The FE models of the Longwan Bridge were developed in the
OpenSees platform (Mazzoni et al. 2006) and visualized by pre/
postprocessing software GiD (CIMNE 1999), as presented in
Fig. 2. In the FE models, the force-based beam–column elements
J. Bridge Eng.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 2. FE model of the cable-stayed bridge.
were used for the pylon. The concrete and reinforcing bars of the
fiber sections were modeled by Kent-Park (Kent and Park 1971)
and Giuffre-Menegotto-Pinto models (Filippou et al. 1983), respec-
tively. The pier with the hollow rectangular cross section was simu-
lated by the multilayer shell element (Lu et al. 2015) to depict the
flexure–shear behavior, as presented in Fig. 2. The deck of the
cable-stayed bridge was simulated by linear elastic beam elements.
Each cable was modeled by a truss element with pretension force.
The geometrical nonlinearities caused by cable sag were considered
in this study by using an equivalent modulus of elasticity (Ernst
1965). A zero-length element with elastic-perfectly plastic gap ma-
terial in OpenSees was adopted to simulate the pounding between
the deck and the corresponding abutment.
Modeling of Soil–Structure Interaction
The dynamic p-y method (Boulanger et al. 1999) was used in this
study to simulate the SSI in the cable-stayed bridge. The nonlinear
p-y element consisted of a linear elastic spring connected in parallel
with a dashpot, accounting for the radiation damping, and subse-
quently connected in series with a plastic element and a gap closure
element (Fig. 3). The t-z and q-z elements were also incorporated to
account for the soil resistances in the vertical direction and pile tips.
The backbones of the dynamic p-y, t-z, and q-z curves for the sand
and clay were developed based on the recommendations from
Brown et al. (1987) and the American Petroleum Institute (API
2003). The soil properties of each layer are listed in Fig. 3.
© ASCE 05019007-3
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007
The “p-multiplier” method (Brown et al. 1987) was used in
this study to account for the group effect. This method reduces
the soil resistance of the p-y curves with a factor based on the
position of each pile in the pile group. It should be noted that an
average p-multiplier is considered in this study to obtain the
global response of the bridge, as the front or rear rows change
alternatively under earthquake motions. Then, the demand (such
as the lateral displacement, the shear force, and the bending
moment) on each pile would be calculated by performing a push-
over analysis for the peak global loading condition and with a
different p-multiplier assigned to each pile based on the geomet-
ric position (Boulanger et al. 2001). The horizontal foundation
input motions from the free-field site response analyses were
applied to the support nodes of the p-y elements.
Estimation of Scour Depth
To determine the scour depth at the pile foundation for a complex
pier scenario, as presented in Fig. 4, HEC-18 (Arneson et al. 2012)
recommends computing the sum of three scour components using
the following equation:
ys ¼ yspier þ yspc þ yspg (1)
where ys = total scour depth; yspier = scour component for the pier
stem in the flow; yspc = scour component for the pier cap or footing
in the flow; and yspg = scour component for the piles exposed to the
J. Bridge Eng.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 3. Dynamic p-y method and analytical model.

account for height of pier stem above the bed and shielding effect
by pile cap overhang distance in front of pier stem.
Assuming the pile group is exposed to the flow, the scour com-
ponent for the pier cap or footing in the flow is computed by
!0:65
0:43
yspc apc V2
¼ 2:0K1 K2 K3 Kw pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (3)
y2 y2 gy2

where KW = wide pier correction factor; apc = corrected width of the

original pile cap; and V2 and y2 are adjusted velocity and flow depth
for pile cap computations.
The third scour component, that is, the scour component for the
piles exposed to the flow, is computed by
2 !0:65
3
a 0:43
yspg V
¼ Khpg 42:0K1 K3 5
pg 3
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (4)
y3 y3 gy3

where V3 and y3 are further adjusted velocity and flow depth af-
ter applying the second scour component to the model. In this
study, calculation of the flood-induced scour considering the
500-year flood event of the study area has resulted in a depth of
6.0 m.
Fig. 4. Schematic of the scour depth.
Nonlinear Seismic Response Analyses

flow. The scour component for the pier stem in the flow is computed Dynamic Characteristics of the Bridge Due to Scour
as
The dynamic characteristics of the single pylon cable-stayed bridge
"

 #
yspier apier 0:65 V1 0:43 with different scour depths was investigated before analyzing the
¼ Khpier 2:0K1 K2 K3 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (2) seismic response. Fig. 5 presents the vibration periods of the single
y1 y1 gy1 pylon cable-stayed bridge under different scour scenarios. The peri-
ods corresponding to the fourth and fifth modes increased as the
where y1 = flow depth directly upstream of the pier; K1, K2, and K3 scour progressed, which were the fundamental longitudinal and
are the factors to account for the nose shape of the pier, the angle of transverse modes. However, the other periods remained almost the
attack of flow, and the bed condition, respectively. apier = pier same. Because scour causes the removal of soil around the bridge
width; V1 = original approach velocity at the beginning of the com- foundation, the lateral stiffness of the cable-stayed bridge decreases
putations; g = acceleration of gravity; and Khpier = coefficient to with increasing scoured depth.

© ASCE 05019007-4 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

 Selection of Ground Motions
Table 1 provides the input ground motions for the numerical analy-
ses. Nine of them were selected from the PEER Strong Motion
Database (PEER 2013), and the third one was the artificial ground
motion. The average spectra of the 10 selected ground motion
records and the standard-design spectra (JTG/T 2008) are presented
in Fig. 6. The difference between the average spectra and the
standard-design spectra was less than 20% for the periods between
0.3 and 0.7 s. All the selected records were scaled to a peak acceler-
ation of 0.3 g.
Nonlinear time history analyses were performed on the afore-
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

mentioned bridge model using these 10 seismic records as bidirec-

Fig. 5. Influence of scour on the natural periods of the single pylon
cable-stayed bridge.
tional inputs. The direct integration method of the HHT (Hilber
et al. 1977) algorithm was used for dynamic analysis. Because the
damping in the cable-stayed bridge is low, 2% Rayleigh damping is
assumed for all nonlinear analyses. Because this study focuses on
the seismic response of the cable-stayed bridge under scour effect,
the influence of spatially varying ground motions is ignored in the
present study.

Table 1. Summary of selected ground motions

Case Record Year Station Magnitude Distance (km)

1 Imperial Valley 1940 El Centro 6.5 11.6
2 Loma Prieta 1989 LGPC 6.9 3.5
3 Artif — Artif — —
4 Imperial Valley 1979 Plaster City 5.6 25.24
5 Central Calif-02 1960 Hollister City Hall 5 9.02
6 Lytle Creek 1970 Colton–So Cal Edison 5.33 30.11
7 San Fernando 1971 Anza Post Office 6.61 170.16
8 San Fernando 1971 Cedar Springs–Allen Ranch 6.61 89.37
9 San Fernando 1971 Gormon–Oso Pump Plant 6.61 43.95
10 Point Mugu 1973 Port Hueneme 5.65 15.48

Fig. 6. (a) Displacement spectra; and (b) acceleration spectra of the records.

© ASCE 05019007-5 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

 Seismic Response of Pile Foundation
The lateral displacement, shear force, and bending moment in the
piles are studied in this section to investigate the influence of scour
effects on the seismic response of pile foundation. Pushover analy-
sis was conducted for the pile group with different p-multipliers.
The pile’s results shown in the study are the maximum values in the
pile group.
Comparison of the lateral displacement along the length of the
pile for the intact bridge and the bridge with 6.0 m scour under El
Centro ground motion is presented in Fig. 7(a). As expected, the
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

maximum lateral displacements in the front rows were smaller

than those in the rear rows because the values of stiffness were
smaller in the rear rows. The maximum lateral displacement in
the pile increased from 7.76 to 36.41 mm. Hysteretic loops for
soil reactions at the top of soil layers are presented in Fig. 7(a). It
is indicated that the soil layers have been in the plastic stage, and
the deformation at the top of the soil layers for the scoured foun-
dation is larger than intact pile foundation. Fig. 8(a) presents the
peak lateral displacement of the pile in longitudinal and trans-
verse directions for different scour depths. Under the same
ground motion, the maximum displacements increased as the
scoured depth increased. The peak displacement of the pile with-
out scour and with 6.0-m scour under the 10 sets of ground
motions are presented in Fig. 9(a), along with the mean values
and one standard deviation (s). Obviously, the peak displacement
of the pile with 6.0-m scour depth is a few times larger than the
intact bridge in both directions. It is because the pile foundation
with increased scour depths exhibited a more flexible behavior
compared to the intact bridge. As presented in Fig. 5, the primary
periods corresponding to fundamental longitudinal and transverse
vibrations of the pile foundation in the intact bridge are T1x = 0.46
(fourth mode) and T1Y = 0.33 s (fifth mode); however, the primary
periods in the bridge with the scour depth of 6 m increase to T2x =
0.60 (fourth mode) and T2Y = 0.43 s (fifth mode). Therefore, as
presented in Fig. 6(a), there are steady increases in the spectral
displacement responses with the increasing scour depth. In addi-
tion, when the pounding between the deck and the abutment is
considered, the peak displacements of the pile decrease, as pre- Fig. 7. Seismic responses along the length of pile under the El Centro
sented in Fig. 8(a), because, when the relative displacement ground motion: (a) displacement; (b) shear force; and (c) bending
between the deck and abutment exceeds the separation gap, the moment.
longitudinal movement of the bridge is resisted by the abutments.
Fig. 7(b) compares the shear forces along the height of the piles
without scour and with 6.0-m scour under the El Centro ground descending trend within the periods from T1x to T2x and from T1Y to
motion. The shear forces of front rows are larger than those of rear T2Y, the average peak shear forces of the pile with 6.0-m scour depth
rows because the stiffness of front rows is larger due to the larger p- are approximately 18% smaller than the intact bridge in both direc-
multiplier assigned to them. It was observed that the peak shear tions. It can be concluded that the peak shear force is largely attrib-
force decreased from 3.9
103 to 2.9
103 kN with the increasing uted to the earthquake ground motion characteristics. The peak
scouring depth. Peak shear forces in longitudinal and transverse shear forces in the piles along the longitudinal direction with and
directions for different scour depths are summarized in Fig. 8(b). without the effect of pounding are compared and investigated in
From all cases under the same ground motion, as the scoured depth Fig. 8(b). It is evident that the peak shear forces in the pile founda-
increases, the peak shear force generally tends to decrease. tion are much smaller if the pounding effect is considered. Because
However, the peak shear force in the piles sometimes increases. a larger portion of inertial force transfers horizontally along the
The reason is that the scour results in the soil erosion around the bridge deck to the abutments, a smaller portion is transferred to the
pier, and the primary periods of the pile foundation increase as scour pile foundation.
progresses. As presented in Fig. 6(b), the spectral acceleration asso- The bending moments of the pile under the El Centro earthquake
ciated with the El Centro and Artif has a descending within the pe- excitation for the intact bridge and the bridge with 6.0-m scour
riod from T1x to T2x in the longitudinal direction. However, the spec- depth are presented in Fig. 7(c). The bending moments of front
tral acceleration associated with LGPC has a first descending and rows are larger than rear rows, and the reason is similar to the shear
subsequent upward tendency within the period from T1Y to T2Y in the forces. The maximum moments in the pile with different scour
transverse direction. The peak shear forces of the pile without scour depths are depicted in Fig. 8(c). Under the same ground motion, the
and with 6.0-m scour under the selected ground motions are pre- moments of the piles increase with the increase of scour depth.
sented in Fig. 9(b), along with the mean values and one standard Fig. 9(c) compares the peak moments in the pile without scour and
deviation (s). Because the average spectral acceleration exhibits a with 6.0-m scour under the 10 sets of ground motions, along with

© ASCE 05019007-6 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 8. Summary of peak responses of pile foundation with different scour depth: (a) displacement; (b) shear force; and (c) bending moment.

the mean values and one standard deviation (s). The average peak
moments in the pile with 6.0-m scour depth are approximately 50
and 87% larger than the intact bridge in the longitudinal and trans-
verse directions because, as the scour progresses, the pile exposure
length increases and the shear force along the exposure length
builds up the bending moment. Longer exposure lengths of the piles
lead to larger peak bending moments. However, the peak shear
forces in the piles decrease with the increasing scoured depth. If the
reduction in the shear force is significant, it will offset the increase
of the bending moment in the exposure length of the piles, which
leads to a decrease of the peak bending moment. In comparing the
bending moment with and without the effect of pounding, it can be
found that the bending moments in the pile are smaller if the
pounding effect is considered. The reason behind this is similar to
the shear force.
Bending Moment at the Deck–Pylon Junction
Fig. 10 compares the maximum bending moments at the deck–
pylon junction with different scour depths. The peak moments at
the deck–pylon junction decrease with the increase of the scour
depth, if the pounding effect is not considered. Fig. 10 illustrates the
pounding effects on the maximum bending moments. The results
indicate that the bending moments at the deck–pylon junction are
much larger if the impacts are considered. The peak bending
moments and the mean values (including the standard deviation) at

© ASCE 05019007-7 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 9. Summary of peak responses of pile foundation under different ground motions: (a) displacement; (b) shear force; and (c) bending
moment.

the deck–pylon junction for the 6.0-m scoured bridge and intact
bridge under different ground motions are summarized in Fig. 11. It
is evident that the peak moments in the junction of the 6.0-m
scoured bridge along the longitudinal direction are mostly larger
than the intact bridge, whereas the bending moments along the
transverse direction show a reverse trend. The reason is that,
because the shear from the superstructure decreases due to the
deteriorated stiffness of the substructure, the moment demand
on the plastic hinge at the deck–pylon junction also decreases.
This phenomenon was also observed in previous studies (Wang
et al. 2014; Klinga and Alipour 2015; Fioklou and Alipour
2014). However, in the longitudinal direction, pounding can
substantially increase superstructure acceleration. The accelera-
tions of the with-pounding cases are 5 to 10 times larger than
those of the without-pounding cases. Therefore, the internal
force of the superstructure can also substantially increase during
impacts, especially when the superstructure is relatively flexible
(Komodromos 2008).

© ASCE 05019007-8 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 10. Summary of peak bending moments at the deck–pylon junction with different scour depths.

Fig. 11. Summary of bending moments at the deck–pylon junction under different ground motions.

Pier Response
Fig. 12 presents that the principal stress contours on the concrete
core under the El Centro ground motion. For the sake of simplicity,
only the left surface of the pier is presented here. The FE results pro-
vide a good representation of a diagonal shear failure for the noniso-
lated cable-stayed bridge. During the nonlinear time history analy-
sis, peak values of the principal stress were observed to initiate with
concentrations at the bottom of the pier and radiate out from this
location at approximately 45° angles with respect to the diagonal
orientation (Han et al. 2018). It was found that the scour effects on
the principal stress of the concrete core are similar to its effects on
the shear forces of the piles. Obviously, the distributions of the peak
principal stress on the concrete core are smaller if the pounding
effect is considered. The reason is that the inertial force of the
superstructure transfers axially along the deck to the abutments
by the pounding effect, and a lesser inertial force is transmitted
to the pier.
Pounding between Abutment and Deck
Fig. 13 gives the time histories of the pounding forces at the
expansion joints under the LGPC earthquake excitation.
Comparing the time histories of the pounding forces with various
scour depths, it is clearly shown that the number of poundings
and the amplitudes of the pounding forces generally increase with
the increase of the scour depth. This is because pounding occurs
at the expansion joints when the relative displacement between
the deck and abutment exceeds the separation gap. The bridge
subjected to the scour hazard becomes more flexible, and as a
result, larger lateral displacements that can cause more severe
poundings are expected during an identical earthquake event.
However, it is worth mentioning that the number of poundings
does not usually increase with the increasing scoured depth
because the dynamic characteristics of the bridge change with the
scour depth. According to this section, it can be concluded that
the scour may induce the bridge failure mechanism from the pier
to the abutments and the pile foundation.
Effect of Hydrodynamic Force on Seismic Response
of Scoured Bridge
Hydrodynamic Force
The influence of hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of the
cable-stayed bridge is studied in this section. Hydrodynamic
expression can be established with the Morison equation and the
radiation theory (Du et al. 2014). A simplified formula based on
radiation theory was derived by Du et al. (2014) and is concise,
accurate, and global decoupling in the time domain. Added mass
expressions distributed over the height of the substructure are added
to represent the hydrodynamic interaction effects. The hydrody-
namic force for a unit height of the circular piles in incompressible
water can be expressed as follows (Wang 2016):

© ASCE 05019007-9 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 12. Comparison of principal stress distribution of the pylon under different scour depths: (a) with pounding; and (b) no pounding.

Cc ¼ 0:600e0:930l þ 0:403e0:156l (6)

where l = 2a/h is defined as the width–depth ratio; and h = depth of

water.
The hydrodynamic force for a unit height of the rectangular pier
and pile cap in incompressible water can also be expressed as fol-
lows (Wang 2016):
~f R ¼ MR €
u
M R ¼ m1 C R (7)

where m1 = 4 r a2 is the added mass of a unit height; 2a is the width

of the rectangular pier; CR is the coefficients of the added mass,
which is also obtained by curve fitting expressed as:
CR ¼ a1 eb1 l þ c1 ed1 l (8)
where a1, b1, c1, and d1 are the coefficients of the equation of the
added mass, which are relevant to the width–depth ratio (Wang
2016).
As presented in Fig. 4, scour will degrade the level of the riv-
erbed, leading to the substructure partially submerged in the water.
The hydrodynamic forces on the rectangular pier and the pile cap
are calculated by Eq. (8). The hydrodynamic forces on the cylinder
Fig. 13. Time histories of the pounding forces under LGPC earth-
pile are calculated by Eq. (6).
quake excitation.

Effect of Hydrodynamic Force on Seismic Response of

the Bridge
~f c ¼ Mc €
u
Fig. 14 compares the dynamic responses along the length of pile
Mc ¼ m1 Cc (5) under the Artif ground motion in the longitudinal direction. It
was found that if the effect of the hydrodynamic force is consid-
where €u = acceleration response of the cylinder; m1 = r p a2 is the ered, the displacement, shear force, and the bending moment
added mass of a unit height; a = radius of the cylinder; r = density along the pile elevation are slightly larger. The peak values of
of water; and Cc = coefficients of the added mass, which is obtained the seismic responses of the piles under different earthquake
by curve fitting excitations are summarized in Table 2. It can be seen from the

© ASCE 05019007-10 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

 table that the response quantities in both directions are not much
affected by the consideration of hydrodynamic forces. The max-
imum increase in seismic response due to the hydrodynamic
force is 9.3%. The main reason is that the virtual mass of the sub-
structure is equal to the sum of the actual mass and the added
mass (Liaw and Chopra 1974). Therefore, the inertia force from
the added mass contributes to the increase of the shear force and
bending moment.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Results of time history analyses on the relative displacement
between the deck and abutment and the bending moment at the
deck–pylon junction under the Artif input motion in the longitudinal
direction are presented in Fig. 15, which presents the results from
time history analyses of the bridge with and without hydrodynamic
force. It is indicated that there is not much variation in the relative
displacement and bending moment at the pylon base with the hydro-
dynamic force considered. The peak values of the seismic responses

Fig. 15. Effect of hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of the

superstructure: (a) displacement; and (b) bending moment.

Table 3. Effect of hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of the

superstructure

Displacement between
Bending moment at the pylon base abutment and deck
(kN·m
105) (mm)
Longitudinal Transverse Longitudinal
Case A W Err (%) A W Err (%) A W Err (%)
1 0.85 0.84 −2.0 1.25 1.20 −4.6 42.80 43.50 1.6
2 1.67 1.69 1.2 1.72 1.75 1.7 68.90 62.40 9.4
Fig. 14. Effect of hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of the 3 1.70 1.70 −0.4 1.70 1.68 −0.8 71.00 79.00 11.0
pile foundation: (a) displacement; (b) shear force; and (c) bending
Note: A and W = peak value of the responses of the piles in the air and
moment.
water, respectively; and Err (%) = discrepancy between A and W.

Table 2. Effect of hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of the pile foundation

Shear force (kN
103) Bending moment (kN·m
104)

Longitudinal Transverse Longitudinal Transverse
Case A W Err (%) A W Err (%) A W Err (%) A W Err (%)
1 2.87 2.92 1.5 2.70 2.83 4.7 1.75 1.77 1.6 1.63 1.72 5.5
2 5.75 5.99 4.3 5.17 5.59 8.2 3.91 4.17 6.7 3.40 3.68 6.9
3 3.98 4.35 9.3 3.89 3.97 1.9 2.54 2.80 10.0 2.48 2.53 2.2
Note: A and W = peak value of the responses of the piles in the air and water, respectively; and Err (%) = discrepancy between A and W.

© ASCE 05019007-11 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007

 of the superstructure under different earthquake excitations are pre-
sented in Table 3. The dynamic responses in both directions are not
much affected by the hydrodynamic force consideration. The larg-
est difference between the results with and without hydrodynamic
force is 11.0%. It is also worth mentioning that the maximum bend-
ing moment at the pylon base is not always increasing or decreas-
ing, which is attributed to the changing of dynamic characteristics
of the bridge with the added mass.
Conclusions
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
In this paper, dynamic analyses were conducted to evaluate the seis-
mic performance of a single pylon cable-stayed bridge under vari-
ous scour scenarios. A three-dimensional FE model was built on the
OpenSees platform involving nonlinearity of the SSI, flexure–shear
behavior of the pier, and the hydrodynamic force to properly reflect
the complex seismic response of the bridge. Dynamic responses
and failure modes of several key bridge components were analyzed.
The following conclusions are drawn from this study:
1. Generally, the periods corresponding to the fundamental longi-
tudinal and transverse vibration modes of the cable-stayed
bridge increase with the scour depth. However, the effects of
the scour gradually diminish for other vibration modes.
2. Based on the nonlinear time history analyses, it is referred that
the moment demand of the piles increase as the scour pro-
gresses while the moment demand of the pier decreases. The
integrated effect of scour and earthquakes may cause damage
to the pile foundation, even it is designed to meet the code-
specified design requirements. Therefore, the bridge pile foun-
dations should be reevaluated with different scour depths to
ensure that they will not fail due to scour. In addition, seismic
mitigation methods and/or scour countermeasures should be
used for protecting the pile foundation of the existing bridge
from damage.
3. The lateral deflections of the scoured bridge foundation
increase as the scour develops, which results in higher pound-
ing potentials compared to the intact bridge. Obviously, the
scour may induce the failure modes of the cable-stayed bridge
to transform from the pier to the piles and the abutments. It is
recommended to design the expansion joints of the bridge with
sufficient deformation capability to avoid seismic pounding
under the combined effect of earthquakes and flood-induced
scour.
4. The effect of hydrodynamic force on the seismic response of
the bridge is negligibly small. However, with the increase
of the pier length and scour depth, the hydrodynamic force may
not be ignored. Further research is needed to identify the crite-
ria for when to take the hydrodynamic force into account.
Acknowledgments
This work is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grants 51478022 and 51421005) and Beijing Municipal
Education Commission (IDHT20190504). Their support is gratefully
acknowledged.
References
Ali, H. M., and A. M. Abdel-Ghaffar. 1995. “Modeling the nonlinear seis-
mic behavior of cable-stayed bridges with passive control bearings.”
Comput. Struct. 54 (3): 461–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/0045-7949
(94)00353-5.
© ASCE 05019007-12
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007
Alipour, A., B. Shafei, and M. Shinozuka. 2013. “Reliability-based calibra-
tion of load and resistance factors for design of RC bridges under multi-
ple extreme events: Scour and earthquake.” J. Bridge Eng. 18 (5): 362–
371. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000369.
API (American Petroleum Institute). 2003. Recommended practice for plan-
ning, designing and constructing fixed offshore platforms—Working
stress design. Washington, DC: API.
Arneson, L. A., L. W. Zevenbergen, P. F. Lagasse, and P. E. Clopper. 2012.
Evaluating scour at bridges. Hydraulic Engineering Circular 18 Rep.
No. FHWA-HIF-12-003. Washington, DC: FHWA.
Banerjee, S., and G. G. Prasad. 2011. “Analysis of bridge performance
under the combined effect of earthquake and flood-induced scour.” In
Vulnerability, Uncertainty, and Risk: Analysis, Modelling, and
Management, 889–896. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Banerjee, S., and G. G. Prasad. 2013. “Seismic risk assessment of reinforced
concrete bridges in flood-prone regions.” Struct. Infrastruct. Eng. 9 (9):
952–968. https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2011.649292.
Boulanger, R. W., C. J. Curras, B. L. Kutter, D. W. Wilson, and A. Abghari.
1999. “Seismic soil-pile-structure interaction experiments and analy-
ses.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 125 (9): 750–759. https://doi.org/10
.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(1999)125:9(750).
Boulanger, R. W., B. L. Kutter, and D. W. Wilson. 2001. “Dynamic experi-
ments and analyses of a pile-group-supported structure.” J. Geotech.
Geoenviron. Eng. 127 (7): 585–596. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)
1090-0241(2001)127:7(585).
Brown, D. A., L. C. Reese, and M. W. O’Neill. 1987. “Cyclic lateral loading
of a large-scale pile group.” J. Geotech. Eng. 113 (11): 1326–1343.
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1987)113:11(1326).
Casciati, F., G. P. Cimellaro, and M. Domaneschi. 2008. “Seismic reliabil-
ity of a cable-stayed bridge retrofitted with hysteretic devices.” Comput.
Struct. 86 (17–18): 1769–1781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc
.2008.01.012.
Chen, C. C., W. H. Wu, F. Shih, and S. W. Wang. 2014. “Scour evaluation
for foundation of a cable-stayed bridge based on ambient vibration
measurements of superstructure.” NDT and E Int. 66 (Sept): 16–27.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2014.04.005.
Chen, Z. Q., and X. Guo. 2015. “Multi-hazard life-cycle analysis of flood-
scour effects on seismic bridge performance.” In Proc., Structures
Congress, 1370–1379. Reston, VA: ASCE.
CIMNE (International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering).
1999. GiD the personal pre/postprocessor user’s manual. Barcelona,
Spain: CIMNE.
Du, X., P. Wang, and M. Zhao. 2014. “Simplified formula of hydrodynamic
pressure on circular bridge piers in the time domain.” Ocean Eng. 85
(Jul): 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2014.04.031.
Ernst, J. H. 1965. “Der E-Modul von Seilen unter berucksichtigung des
Durchhanges.” [In German.] Der Bauingenieur 40 (2): 52–55.
Filippou, F., E. Popov, and V. Bertero. 1983. Effects of bond deterioration
on hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete joints. Rep. No. UCB/
EERC-83/19. Berkeley, CA: Earthquake Eng. Res. Ctr.
Fioklou, A., and A. Alipour. 2014. “Seismic behavior of bridges with deep
foundations under effects of scouring.” In Structures congress, 313–
323. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Han, Q., J. N. Wen, X. L. Du, Z. L. Zhong, and H. Hao. 2018. “Nonlinear
seismic response of a base isolated single pylon cable-stayed bridge.”
Eng. Struct. 175 (Nov): 806–821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct
.2018.08.077.
Han, Q., Z. L. Jia, K. Xu, Y. L. Zhou, and X. L. Du. 2019. “Hysteretic
behavior investigation of self-centering double-column rocking piers
for seismic resilience.” Eng. Struct. 188 (Jan): 218–232. https://doi.org
/10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.03.024.
Hilber, H. M., T. J. R. Hughes, and R. L. Talor. 1977. “Improved numerical
dissipation for time integration algorithms in structural dynamics.”
Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn. 5 (3): 283–292. https://doi.org/10.1002
/eqe.4290050306.
JTG/T. 2008. Guidelines for seismic design of highway bridge. [In
Chinese.] Beijing: Communications Press.
Kent, D. C., and R. Park. 1971. “Flexural members with confined concrete.”
J. Struct. Div. 97 (7): 1969–1990.
J. Bridge Eng.
 Klinga, J. V., and A. Alipour. 2015. “Assessment of structural integrity of
bridges under extreme scour conditions.” Eng. Struct. 82 (Jan): 55–71.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.07.021.
Komodromos, P. 2008. “Simulation of the earthquake-induced pounding of
seismically isolated buildings.” Comput. Struct. 86 (7–8): 618–626.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc.2007.08.001.
Lee, G. C., C. Huang, Z. Liang, and W. Yen. 2014. “Towards next genera-
tion LRFD extreme event design limit states.” In Proc., Structures
Congress, 463–472. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Lee, G. C., S. B. Mohan, C. Huang, and B. N. Fard. 2013. A study of U.S.
bridge failures (1980–2012). Rep. No. 13-0008. Buffalo, NY: MCEER.
Li, L., S. Hu, and L. Wang. 2017. “Seismic fragility assessment of a multi-
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of California, Santa Barbara" on 04/08/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
span cable-stayed bridge with tall piers.” Bull. Earthquake Eng. 15 (9):
3727–3745. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-017-0106-x.
Liang, F., C. R. Bennett, R. L. Parsons, J. Han, and C. Lin. 2009. “A litera-
ture review on behavior of scoured piles under bridges.” In
Contemporary topics in in situ testing, analysis, and reliability of foun-
dations, 482–489. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Liang, F. Y., B. Liu, and J. R. Li. 2017. “Seismic fragility analysis of bridge
pile foundation considering scour effect.” [In Chinese.] China
Earthquake Eng. J. 39 (1): 14–20.
Liao, K. W., Y. Muto, and J. Gitomarsono. 2018. “Reliability analysis of river
bridge against scours and earthquakes.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 32 (3):
04018017. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001153.
Liaw, C. Y., and A. K. Chopra. 1974. “Dynamics of towers surrounded by
water.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn. 3 (1): 33–49. https://doi.org/10
.1002/eqe.4290030104.
© ASCE 05019007-13
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 05019007
Liu, B., F. Y. Liang, and J. Peng. 2016. “Fragility analysis and parameters
regression of bridge foundation under the combined action of earth-
quake and flood.” [In Chinese.] Struct. Eng. 32 (6): 155–161.
Lu, X., L. Xie, H. Guan, Y. Huang, and X. Lu. 2015. “A shear wall element
for nonlinear seismic analysis of super-tall buildings using OpenSees.”
Finite. Elem. Anal. Des. 98 (Jun): 14–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.finel
.2015.01.006.
Mazzoni, S., F. McKenna, and G. L. Fenves. 2006. OpenSees (open system
for earthquake engineering simulation) for earthquake simulation user
manual. Berkeley, CA: PEER.
PEER (Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research). 2013. “NGA database.”
Accessed February 13, 2013. http://peer.berkeley.edu/nga/.
Wang, P. 2016. “Study on water-substructure of bridge interaction under
earthquake action and wave action.” [In Chinese.] Ph.D. thesis, College
of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Beijing Univ. of Technology.
Wang, Z., J. E. Padgett, and L. Dueñas-Osorio. 2014. “Risk-consistent cali-
bration of load factors for the design of reinforced concrete bridges under
the combined effects of earthquake and scour hazards.” Eng. Struct. 79
(Nov): 86–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.07.005.
Yilmaz, T., S. Banerjee, and P. A. Johnson. 2016. “Performance of two
real-life California bridges under regional natural hazards.” J.
Bridge. Eng. 21 (3): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943
-5592.0000827.
You, D., M. F. Dan, and D. Saydam. 2013. “Time-variant sustainability
assessment of seismically vulnerable bridges subjected to multiple haz-
ards.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn. 42 (10): 1451–1467. https://doi.org
/10.1002/eqe.2281.
J. Bridge Eng.