• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.325-348
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• 2009

This paper is concerned with steel-concrete composite plate girders curved in plan. At the design stage these girders are assumed sometimes to act independent of the deck slabs resting on them in order to simplify the analysis. The advantage of composite action between the steel girders and concrete deck is not utilized. Finite element modeling of such composite action in plate girders is considered in this paper. Details of the finite element modeling and the non-linear analysis of the girders are presented along with the results obtained. Tension field action in the web panels similar to those observed in the straight plate girders is also noticed in these girders. Finite element and experimental results in respect of curved steel plate girders and straight composite plate girders tested by other researchers are presented first to assess the accuracy of the modeling. Effects of parameters such as curvature, steel flange width and web panel width that affect the behavior of composite girders are then considered in the analyses. An approximate method to predict the ultimate strength of horizontally curved composite plate girders is also presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.193-204
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• 2019

This paper presents results from experimental and numerical studies on the response of steel-concrete composite box bridge girders under certain localized fire exposure conditions. Two composite box bridge girders, a simply supported girder and a continuous girder respectively, were tested under simultaneous loading and fire exposure. The simply supported girder was exposed to fire over 40% of its span length in the middle zone, and the two-span continuous girder was exposed to fire over 38% of its length of the first span and full length of the second span. A measurement method based on comparative rate of deflection was provided to predict the failure time in the hogging moment zone of continuous composite box bridge girders under certain localized fire exposure condition. Parameters including transverse and longitudinal stiffeners and fire scenarios were introduced to investigate fire resistance of the composite box bridge girders. Test results show that failure of the simply supported girder is governed by the deflection limit state, whereas failure of the continuous girder occurs through bending buckling of the web and bottom slab in the hogging moment zone. Deflection based criterion may not be reliable in evaluating failure of continuous composite box bridge girder under certain fire exposure condition. The fire resistance (failure time) of the continuous girder is higher than that of the simply supported girder. Data from fire tests is successfully utilized to validate a finite element based numerical model for further investigating the response of composite box bridge girders exposed to localized fire. Results from numerical analysis show that fire resistance of composite box bridge girders can be highly influenced by the spacing of longitudinal stiffeners and fire severity. The continuous composite box bridge girder with closer longitudinal stiffeners has better fire resistance than the simply composite box bridge girder. It is concluded that the fire resistance of continuous composite box bridge girders can be significantly enhanced by preventing the hogging moment zone from exposure to fire. Longitudinal stiffeners with closer spacing can enhance fire resistance of composite box bridge girders. The increase of transverse stiffeners has no significant effect on fire resistance of composite box bridge girders.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.297-315
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• 2010

This paper is concerned with free vibration characteristics and natural frequency of horizontally curved composite plate girder bridges. Three-dimensional finite element models are developed for the girders using the software package LUSAS and analyses carried out on the models. The validity of the finite element models is first established through comparison with the corresponding results published by other researchers. Studies are then carried out to investigate the effects of total number of girders, number of cross-frames and curvature on the free vibration response of horizontally curved composite plate girder bridges. The results confirm the fact that bending modes are always coupled with torsional modes for horizontally curved bridge girder systems. The results show that the first bending mode is influenced by composite action between the concrete deck and steel beam at low subtended angle but, on the girders with larger subtended angle at the centre of curvature such influence is non-existence. The increase in the number of girders results in higher natural frequency but at a decreasing rate. The in-plane modes viz. longitudinal and arching modes are significantly influenced by composite action and number of girders. If no composite action is taken into account the number of girders has no significant effect for the in-plane modes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.511-523
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• 2015

Damaged steel-concrete composite girders can be repaired and retrofitted by epoxy-bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets to the critical areas of tension flanges. This paper presents the results of a study on the behavior of damaged steel-concrete composite girders repaired with CFRP sheets under static loading. A total of seven composite girders made of I20A steel sections and 80mm-thick by 900mm-wide concrete slabs were prepared and tested. CFRP sheets and prestressed CFRP sheets were used to repair the specimens. The specimens lost the cross-sectional area of their tension flanges with 30%, 50% and 100%. The results showed that CFRP sheets had no significant effect on the yield loads of strengthened composite girders, but had significant effect on the ultimate loads. The yield loads, elastic stiffness, and ultimate bearing capacities of strengthened composite girders had been changed as a result of prestressed CFRP sheets, the utilization ratio of CFRP sheets could be effectively improved by applying prestress to CFRP sheets. Both the yield loads and ultimate bearing capacities had been changed as a result of steel beam's flange damage level and CFRP sheets could cover the girders' shortage of bearing capacity with 30% and 50% flange damage, respectively.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.183-196
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• 2018

The traditional prestressed concrete composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs have several drawbacks such as large deflection and potential local buckling. In this study, two methods were investigated to optimize and improve the prestressed concrete composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs. The first method was to replace the concrete bottom slab with a steel plate and the second method was to support the concrete bottom slab on the steel flanges. The behavior of the prestressed concrete composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs with either method was studied by experiments on three specimens. The test results showed that behavior of the optimized and upgraded prestressed concrete composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs, including ultimate bearing capacity, flexural stiffness, and crack resistance, is greatly improved. In addition, the influence of different shear connectors, including perfobond leisten (PBL) and stud shear connectors, on the behavior of prestressed concrete composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs was studied. The results showed that PBL shear connectors can greatly improve the ultimate bearing capacity, flexural stiffness and crack resistance property of the prestressed concrete composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs. However, for the efficiency of prestressing introduced into the girder, the PBL shear connectors do not perform as well as the stud shear connectors.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 1987

This paper suggests a method for the analysis of box girders which are subject to the membrane and the plate bending actions, Moreover, the method is applied to the box girders under distributed loads which have various geometrical types of cross sections and are made out of different materials. The approach is based on the finite element technique in which the structure is considered to be a spatial assemblage of flat plate elements and the deformations of the plates are to be approximated with 9-noded parabolic isoparametric elements. The results are summarized as follows. 1.In all models, the larger the widths of top flange inside of web are, the larger the vertical deflections are. 2.The maximum transverse and longitudinal moments in the composite box girders are judged to be larger than those in the RC box girders. 3.The transverse and the longitudinal moments in top flange of composite box. girders are larger than those in that of the RC box girders. 4.The transverse and longitudinal moments in web and bottom flange of the composite box girders are estimated to be very small in compare to those in web and bottom flange of the RC box girders.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2013

This paper presents a research work for the evaluation of the nominal flexural strength of composite girders in positive bending region. Current predicting equations for the nominal flexural strength of composite girders in the 2012 version of the Korea Bridge Design Codes based on Limit State Design Method are able to apply for the composite girders with conventional structural steels. For applying composite girders with high yield strength steels of HSB800 as well as HSB600, there is a need for improving the current predicting equations. In order to investigate the nominal flexural strength of composite girders, previous research works are carefully reviewed and parametric study using a moment-curvature analysis program is conducted to evaluate the ultimate moment capacity and the ductility of a wide range of composite girders. Based on the results of the parametric study, less conservative nominal flexural strength design equations are proposed for conventional composite girders. In addition, new design equations for predicting the nominal flexural strength of composite girders with HSB600 and HSB800 high-performance steels are provided.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.353-362
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• 2022

Bridge fire hazard has become a growing concern over the last decade due to the rapid increase of ground transportation of hazardous materials and resulting fire incidents. The lack of fire safety provisions in steel bridges can be a significant issue owing steel thermal properties that lead to fast degradation of steel properties at elevated temperatures. Alternatively, the development of composite action between steel girders and concrete decks can increase the fire resistance of steel bridges and meet fire safety requirements in some applications. This paper reviews the fire problem in steel bridges and the fire behavior of composite steel-concrete bridge girders. A numerical model is developed to trace the fire response of a typical bridge girder and is validated using measurements from fire tests. The selected bridge girder is composed by a hot rolled steel section strengthened with bearing stiffeners at midspan and supports. A concrete slab sitting on the top of the girder is connected to the slab through shear studs to provide full composite action. The validated numerical model was used to investigate the fire resistance of real scale bridge girders and the effect of the composite action under different scenarios (standard and hydrocarbon fires). Results showed that composite action can significantly increase the fire resistance of steel bridge girders. Besides, fire severity played an important role in the fire behavior of composite girders and both factors should be taken into consideration in the design of steel bridges for fire safety.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.343-354
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• 2022

An understanding of the mechanism of concrete girders repaired with CFRP plates and its influence on the dynamic parameters is presented in this paper. Dynamic parameters are governed by the relationship with the physical properties of concrete girders and CFRP plates as well as the adhesive layer between them. A brief explanation of the mechanism of the composite action of concrete girders repaired with CFRP is also given in this paper. Experimental work was carried out to validate the theory of the composite action. The results show a decrease in the modal parameters of CFRP repaired girders that were turned over during the repair procedure, which contrasts with the proven static-based results that CFRP plates increase the stiffness of repaired girders. The composite action theory has explained the results based on the tension and compression forces' growth at the adhesive layer between the CFRP plates and girder surface during the repair procedure. Other girders were prepared and repaired without turning over in order to avoid tension and compression forces at the adhesive layer. The experimental results show an increase in the dynamic parameters of CFRP repaired girders that were not turned over during the repair procedure, which aligns with the static-based results. The study concludes that the dynamic parameters are excellent indicators for the assessment of CFRP repaired concrete girders. The study also suggests that researchers should not turn over damaged concrete girders to repair them with CFRP plates if they intend to study the dynamic parameters, in order to avoid the proposed composite action effect on modal parameters.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.295-316
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• 2015

A bridge widening technology using steel-concrete composite system was developed and is presented in this paper. The widened superstructure system consists of a newly built composite steel-concrete girder with concrete deck and steel diaphragms attached to the existing concrete girders. This method has been applied in several bridge widening projects in China, and one of those projects is presented in detail. Due to the higher stiffness-to-weight ratio and the rapid erection of composite girders, this widening method reveals benefits in both mechanical performance and construction. As only a few methods for the design of bridges with different types of girders are recommended in current design codes, a more accurate analytical method of estimating live load distribution on girder bridges was developed. In the analytical model, the effects of span length, girder pacing, diaphragms, concrete decks were considered, as well as the torsional and flexural stiffness of both composite box girders and concrete T girders. The study shows that the AASHTO LRFD specification procedures and the analytical models proposed in this paper closely approximate the live load distribution factors determined by finite element analysis. A parametric study was also conducted using the finite element method to evaluate the potential load carrying capacities of the existing concrete girders after widening.