Four concrete bridge piers are tested under a low cycle loading to study the hysteretic behavior of HRB500 high strength reinforced concrete bridge piers. The effects of the shear span ratio, the longitudinal reinforcement and the stirrup strength grade on concrete bridge pier's failure modes are analyzed. The comparison of the hysteretic behavior between the high strength reinforced concrete bridge piers and the ordinarily reinforced concrete bridge piers shows that with the increase of the shear span ratio and the effective constraint of the stirrup, the deformability is increased, the hysteretic curve becomes fuller and the rigidity degeneration slows down. The hysteretic behavior of the concrete bridge piers with a high strength longitudinal reinforcement and a high strength stirrup, such as the rigidity degeneration and the hysteretic curve, is improved as compared to the ordinarily reinforced concrete bridge piers. The bearing capacity and the deformability of the HRB500 high strength reinforced concrete bridge piers are enhanced.

bridge piers  /  high strength steel bars  /  shear span ratio  /  hysteretic behavior