This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on Post Peak Shear Failure of RC Piers Subjected to Cyclic Loading, to be held in Yamanashi, Japan, in October, l999. The co-organizers are Professors Pui-Shum Shing at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Tada-aki Tanabe at Nagoya University in Japan. The seminar will focus on the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers, which is an important issue pertaining to the performance and safety of bridge structures during earthquakes. The seminar will provide a forum to discuss theory and experiments on the post-peak shear behavior of RC columns, to review and summarize the state-of-the-art concrete material models and analytic methods that can be used to simulate and understand the shear behavior of RC columns, and to identify future research needs and possible cooperative research topics on this subject.
Rational and reliable analytic models are needed to enhance our understanding of the shear behavior of RC piers, to improve current seismic design and retrofit methods, and to permit a realistic assessment of the seismic safety of existing bridges. Discussion at the seminar will be structured around the following topics: 1) theory, experimental and field observations of the shear behavior of RC piers, and the needs in engineering practice; 2) mechanical behavior and modeling of concrete materials and recent developments in finite element analysis methods; and 3) structural component models system analysis and behavior of RC bridges. Seminar organizers have made a special effort to involve younger researchers as both participants and observers. The exchange of ideas and data with Japanese experts in this field will enable U.S. participants to advance their own work, and will set the stage for future collaborative projects. Following the seminar, it is anticipated that the presentations will be prepared and published. The availability of this report will then be advertised in the Newsletter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. ***
