Seismic performance of a continuous bridge with winding rope device activated by a fluid viscous damper

The seismic requirements of piers with fixed bearings (the fixed pier) for continuous girder bridges are relatively high, while the potential seismic capabilities of piers with sliding bearings (the sliding piers) are not fully utilized. To solve this contradiction, a new type of winding rope shock absorption device activated by a fluid viscous damper (WRD-D) was proposed. The WRD-D was installed on the top of the sliding piers, and the both ends of a fluid viscous damper were connected to the superstructure by winding ropes. During an earthquake, the damping force rises with the increase of relative speed between the sliding piers and the superstructure, activating the WRD-D and producing large frictional resistance, subsequently causing the sliding piers and the fixed pier to bear the seismic load cooperatively. In this study, the working mechanism of the WRD-D was researched. The shaking table test of a scaled continuous girder bridge model employing the WRD-D was conducted. The test results reveal that the WRD-D can effectively reduce the seismic requirements of the fixed pier and the superstructure displacements.