• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.437-446
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• 2006

Open-steel-plate-girder(OSPG) bridges are one of the most prevalent bridge types among Korean railway bridges. They account for about 40% of all Korean railway bridges. However, the line-type bearings used for OSPG bridges generate several problems with respect to the bridges' dynamic behavior and maintenance. The replacement of the existing bearings with polyurethane disk bearings could be a possible solution to this problem. This type of disk bearing is an elastic bearing using a polyurethane disk. This study estimated the variations in the natural frequency of a bridge when disk bearings were installed and the bridge's dynamic behavior with a running locomotive and running trains. The first natural frequency of the bridge was 3% lower than that of the as-built bridge after the installation of the disk lower, respectively. Also, the second and third frequencies were 7 and 15% lower, respectively. The disk bearings increased the vertical displacement of the bridge, but the pure displacement, excluding the disk deformation, did not vary. The vertical acceleration did not increase when the disk bearing was installed, with trains running. The shear pin in the disk bearing reduced the lateral displacement and the acceleration of the bridge.