• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.257-289
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• 2015

Shear connectors are generally used to link the slab and girders together in slab-on-girder bridge structures. Damage of shear connectors in such structures will result in shear slippage between the slab and girders, which significantly reduces the load-carrying capacity of the bridge. Because shear connectors are buried inside the structure, routine visual inspection is not able to detect conditions of shear connectors. A few methods have been proposed in the literature to detect the condition of shear connectors based on vibration measurements. This paper proposes a different dynamic condition assessment approach to identify the damage of shear connectors in slab-on-girder bridge structures based on power spectral density transmissibility (PSDT). PSDT formulates the relationship between the auto-spectral densities of two responses in the frequency domain. It can be used to identify shear connector conditions with or without reference data of the undamaged structure (or the baseline). Measured impact force and acceleration responses from hammer tests are analyzed to obtain the frequency response functions at sensor locations by experimental modal analysis. PSDT from the slab response to the girder response is derived with the obtained frequency response functions. PSDT vectors in the undamaged and damaged states can be compared to identify the damage of shear connectors. When the baseline is not available, as in most practical cases, PSDT vectors from the measured response at a reference sensor to those of the slab and girder in the damaged state can be used to detect the damage of shear connectors. Numerical and experimental studies on a concrete slab supported by two steel girders are conducted to investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach. Identification results demonstrate that damages of shear connectors are identified accurately and efficiently with and without the baseline. The proposed method is also used to evaluate the conditions of shear connectors in a real composite bridge with in-field testing data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.347-362
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• 2024

Controlling vibrations and noise in steel box girders is important for reducing noise pollution and avoiding discomfort to residents of dwellings along bridges. The fundamental approach to solving this problem involves first identifying the main path of transmission of the vibration energy and then cutting it off by using targeted measures. However, this requires an investigation of the characteristics of flow of vibration energy in the steel box girder, whereas most studies in the area have focused on analyzing its single-point frequency response and overall vibrations. To solve this problem, this study examines the transmission of vibrations through the segments of a steel box girder when it is subjected to harmonic loads through structural intensity analysis based on standard finite element software and a post-processing code created by the authors. We identified several frequencies that dominated the vibrations of the steel box girder as well as the factors that influenced their emergence. We also assessed the contributions of a variety of vibrational waves to power flow, and the results showed that bending waves were dominant in the top plate and in-plane waves in the vertical plate of the girder. Finally, we analyzed the effects of commonly used stiffened structures and steel-concrete composite structures on the flow of vibration energy in the girder, and verified their positive impacts on energy regionalization. In addition to providing an efficient tool for the relevant analyses, the work here informs research on optimizing steel box girders to reduce vibrations and noise in them.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.647-659
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• 2018

Through extensive research, there exist a new type of connection between railway bridge girders and steel-concrete composite panels. In addition to conventional shear connectors, newly developed blind bolts have been recently adopted for retrofitting. However, the body of knowledge on their influence and application to railway structures has not been thoroughly investigated. This study has thus placed a particular emphasis on the application of blind bolts on the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a feasible alternative constituent of railway track upgrading. Finite element modeling has been used to simulate the behaviours of the precast steel-concrete panels with common types of bolt connection using commercially available package, ABAQUS. The steel-concrete composite track slabs have been designed in accordance with Australian Standards AS5100. These precast steel-concrete panels are then numerically retrofitted by three types of most practical bold connections: head studded shear connector, Ajax blind bolt and Lindapter hollow bolt. The influences of bolt connections on load and stress transfers and structural behaviour of the composite track slabs are highlighted in this paper. The numerical results exhibit that all three bolts can distribute stresses effectively and can be installed on the bridge girder. However, it is also found that Lindapter hollow bolts are superior in minimising structural responses of the composite track slabs to train loading.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.5A
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• pp.673-683
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• 2008

This study improved the existing method of using the longitudinal strain and concept of influence line to develop Bridge Weigh-in-Motion system without axle detector using the dynamic strain of the bridge girders and concrete slab. This paper first describes the considered algorithms of extracting passing vehicle information from the dynamic strain signal measured at the bridge slab, girders, and cross beams. Two different analysis methods of 1) influence line method, and 2) neural network method are considered, and parameter study of measurement locations is also performed. Then the procedures and the results of field tests are described. The field tests are performed to acquire training sets and test sets for neural networks, and also to verify and compare performances of the considered algorithms. Finally, comparison between the results of different algorithms and discussions are followed. For a PSC I-girder bridge, vehicle weight can be calculated within a reasonable error range using the dynamic strain gauge installed on the girders. The passing lane and passing speed of the vehicle can be accurately estimated using the strain signal from the concrete slab. The passing speed and peak duration were added to the input variables to reflect the influence of the dynamic interaction between the bridge and vehicles, and impact of the distance between axles, respectively; thus improving the accuracy of the weight calculation.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.227-234
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• 2001

The lifting and lowering supports method was recently developed in steel box girder bridge. It has many advantages by lifting and lowering of inner supports and filled concrete. This method reduces an amount of steel and height of girders. It is one of the methods used to effectively increase the use of structural material. However, if there is too much lifting of inner supports, it is possible to cause buckling of the compression flange or web panel. Therefore it needs a proper number of longitudinal and transvers stiffener.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.13-22
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• 2000

In order to resolve the problem of increasing traffic entailed by the economic development, road system is reorganization and new highways are built, and long span bridges over 40m are being constructed in environmental and aesthetic considerations. Most long span bridges that are currently being constructed are in general steel box girder and preflex girder bridges; however these types of breiges are less efficiency than PSC I-type girder bridges in terms of construction cost and maintenance. Therefore, in these study, structural efficiency of PSC I-type girders based on section parameters, concrete compressive strength and other design parameter is observed to develope new PSC I-type girder for long span bridges. As a results of analysis, most important design parameters that control the stress of the girder are found to be the top flange width and the height of girder. In this light, the relationship between the two variables is determined and cross-section details of the girder that most appropriates for the long span bridges are proposed. The use of high strength concrete appears to increase the general design span however the increase rate of the span from increasing concrete ultimate strength appears to be reduced depending on the span. Also, the optimal girder spacing is determined through the parameter studies of design span using the proposed girder.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.357-360
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• 2008

This study was performed to estimate the workability and the static behavior for Bi Prestressed Concrete Girder(Bicon girder) which could introduce effectively prestressed forces into concrete girders. A bicon girder is manufactured by means of introducing pure bending moment that prestress simultaneously the compressive member(steel bar) and the tensile member(steel tendon). Static test was executed for 20m railway bridge girder specimen and evaluated whether pure bending moment was introduced or not, and the behaviors after cracking, and at the ultimate load. Test results showed that a bicon girder had the enough safety in the introduction of pure moment, the serviceability, and the ultimate behavior.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.5
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• pp.567-577
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• 2017

The traditional design procedure of a prestressed concrete (PC) cable-stayed bridge is complex and time-consuming. The designers have to repeatedly modify the configuration of the large number of design parameters to obtain a feasible design scheme which maybe not an economical design. In order to efficiently achieve an optimum design for PC cable-stayed bridges, a multi-parameter optimization technique is proposed. In this optimization technique, the number of prestressing tendons in girder is firstly set as one of design variables, as well as cable forces, cable areas and cross-section sizes of the girders and the towers. The stress and displacement constraints are simultaneously utilized to ensure the safety and serviceability of the structure. The target is to obtain the minimum cost design for a PC cable-stayed bridge. Finally, this optimization technique is carried out by a developed PC cable-stayed bridge optimization program involving the interaction of the parameterized automatically modeling program, the finite element structural analysis program and the optimization algorithm. A low-pylon PC cable-stayed bridge is selected as the example to test the proposed optimization technique. The optimum result verifies the capability and efficiency of the optimization technique, and the significance to optimize the number of prestressing tendons in the girder. The optimum design scheme obtained by the application can achieve a 24.03% reduction in cost, compared with the initial design.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.525-535
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• 1999

In this study, a new method of fabricated concrete deck bridge construction is proposed. This paper details the method in which concrete multi-girders and fabricated concrete decks are rested on the upper flange of the girder and the female to female type sheat-key is formed to connect girder and deck. The finite element analysis is performed to verify the accuracy of the structural behaviors of the fabricated concrete deck bridge by comparing with experimental results. The first task performed is the analysis of the equilibrium of the member force occurring between the deck and the girder. After verifying equilibrium of the member force determined by the finite element analysis, this process is applied to the analysis of maximum member force as the position of design load. This task is utilized to determine the safety of each member according to the same scale finite element model. The final process in this study is to compare the deflection of girders used in experiment with that of the same scale finite element model to verify the strength of fabricated cincrete deck bridge. By this comparison, it is shown that the behavior of the fabricated concrete deck bridge is almost same as the finite element analysis. The second task is to analyze the load distribution effect according to the number of diaphragms and the composite effect due to the cinnection of the deck and girder by the finite element analysis. From the results of second task, it is found that the load distribution effect is not related to the number of diaphragms in case of the central loading, but is related to the number of diaphragms for eccentric loading. Analysis of the load distribution indicates that the effective number of diaphragm is three. It is also shown that the maximum deflection is decreased to almost one half due to the composite action of the deck and girder.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.505-510
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• 2008

The design of noncomposite construction for skew bridges with large skew angels has been often checked because composite construction may cause large stresses in the bridge deck. In this study, the analytical model considered dynamic behaviors for noncomposite skew bridges was proposed. Using the proposed analytical model, the effects of interactions between the concrete deck and steel girders such as composite construction, and noncomposite construction on the dynamic characteristics of simply supported skew bridges were investigated. A series of parametric studies for the total 27 skew bridges was conducted with respect to parameters such as girder spacing, skew angle, and deck aspect ratio. The slip at the interfaces between the concrete deck and steel girders may bring about longer vibration periods that result in the reduced total seismic base shear.