Seismic behavior of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Suspension Bridge under spatially variation ground motion

Abstract

In the present study, it is aimed at how Fatih Sultan Mehmet suspension bridge behaves under site-specific multi-point earthquake excitations, in accordance with, determining the structural earthquake performance of the bridge. For this aim, based upon recently-proposed 3-D finite element model of the bridge is updated and response parameters of the bridge are determined, and site-specific strong ground motions in x, y and z directions are produced for each support of the bridge considering the Mw=7.5 scenario earthquakes on the main Marmara Fault. Non-linear earthquake time-history analysis of the bridge subjected to multi-point excitation is then carried out using these seismic ground motion time-histories. By means of this analysis, the effect of site-specific multi-point earthquake excitations on the bridge is investigated and earthquake response characteristics of the bridge are compared to those obtained from uniform support excitations