Numerical study of confinement effectiveness in solid and hollow reinforced concrete bridge piers: Analysis results and discussion

This paper presents the outcome of a large parametric numerical analysis of solid and hollow reinforced concrete piers taken from actually constructed bridges, based on a consistent three-dimensional nonlinear finite element methodology that was presented in a companion paper. Various transverse reinforcement arrangements and spacings were examined, as well as the effect of high-strength concrete on confinement effectiveness. The interpretation of numerical results mainly focuses on identifying the most convenient confinement configurations in terms of enhanced strength and ductility, as well as ease of construction and cost effectiveness. Furthermore, issues regarding confinement arrangements (often used in practice) that result in reduced section ductility are investigated and possible remedies are suggested. Finally, the broad applicability of the proposed methodology is established by application to a particularly complex (in terms of geometry and reinforcement detailing) hollow pylon section.