• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.747-764
• /
• 2022

The design codes and calculation methods related to soil-steel composite bridges and culverts only specify the minimum soil cover depth. This value is connected with the bridge span and shell height. In the case of static and dynamic loads (like passing vehicles), such approach seems to be quite reasonable. However, it is important to know how the soil cover depth affects the behaviour of soil-steel composite bridges under seismic excitation. This paper presents the results of a numerical study of soil-steel bridges with different soil cover depths (1.00, 2.00, 2.40, 3.00, 4.00, 5.00, 6.00 and 7.00 m) under seismic excitation. In addition, the same soil cover depths with different boundary conditions of the soil-steel bridge were analysed. The analysed bridge has two closed pipe-arches in its cross section. The load-carrying structure was constructed as two shells assembled from corrugated steel plate sheets, designed with a depth of 0.05 m, pitch of 0.15 m, and plate thickness of 0.003 m. The shell span is 4.40 m, and the shell height is 2.80 m. Numerical analysis was conducted using the DIANA programme based on the finite element method. A nonlinear model with El Centro records and the time history method was used to analyse the problem.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.109-122
• /
• 2012

An efficient and accurate algorithm is proposed to evaluate the reliability of cable-stayed bridges accounting for soil-pile interaction. The proposed algorithm integrates the finite-element method and the response surface method. The finite-element method is used to model the cable-stayed bridge including soil-pile interaction. The reliability index is evaluated based on the response surface method. Uncertainties in the superstructure, the substructure and load parameters are incorporated in the proposed algorithm. A long span steel cable-stayed bridge with a main span length of 1088 m built in China is considered as an illustrative example. The reliability of the bridge is evaluated for the strength and serviceability performance functions. Results of the study show that when strength limit states for both girder and tower are considered, soil-pile interaction has significant effects on the reliability of steel cable-stayed bridges. Further, a detailed sensitivity study shows that the modulus of subgrade reaction is the most important soil-pile interaction-related parameter influencing the reliability of steel cable-stayed bridges.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.217-227
• /
• 2018

This paper utilizes 3D FEM to provide deeper insights about the structural behaviour of a 6.1 m span steel culvert, which was previously tested under extreme loading. The effect of different input parameters pertaining to the backfill soil has been investigated, where the structural response is compared to field measurements. The interface choice between the steel and soil materials was also studied. The results enabled to realize the major influence of the friction angle on the load effects. Moreover, the analyses showed some differences concerning the estimation of failure load, whereas reasons beyond this outcome were arguably presented and discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.405-429
• /
• 2014

In this paper, it is aimed to determine the structural behavior of suspension bridges considering construction stages and different soil conditions. Bosporus Suspension Bridge connecting the Europe and Asia in Istanbul is selected as an example. Finite element model of the bridge is constituted using SAP2000 program considering existing drawings. Geometric nonlinearities are taken into consideration in the analysis using P-Delta large displacement criterion. The time dependent material strength of steel and concrete and geometric variations is included in the analysis. Time dependent material properties are considered as compressive strength, aging, shrinkage and creep for concrete, and relaxation for steel. To emphases the soil condition effect on the structural behavior of suspension bridges, each of hard, medium and soft soils are considered in the analysis. The structural behavior of the bridge at different construction stages and different soil conditions has been examined. Two different finite element analyses with and without construction stages are carried out and results are compared with each other. At the end of the analyses, variation of the displacement and internal forces such as bending moment, axial forces and shear forces for bridge deck and towers are given in detail. Also, displacement and stresses for bridge foundation are given with detail. It can be seen from the analyses that there are some differences between both analyses (with and without construction stages) and the results obtained from the construction stages are bigger. It can be stated that the analysis without construction stages cannot give the reliable solutions. In addition, soil condition have effect on the structural behavior of the bridge. So, it is thought that construction stage analysis using time dependent material properties, geometric nonlinearity and soil conditions effects should be considered in order to obtain more realistic structural behavior of suspension bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.637-655
• /
• 2012

In this study, stochastic responses of a cable-stayed bridge subjected to the spatially varying earthquake ground motion are investigated by the finite element method taking into account soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects. The considered bridge in the analysis is Quincy Bay-view Bridge built on the Mississippi River in between 1983-1987 in Illinois, USA. The bridge is composed of two H-shaped concrete towers, double plane fan type cables and a composite concrete-steel girder deck. In order to determine the stochastic response of the bridge, a two-dimensional lumped masses model is considered. Incoherence, wave-passage and site response effects are taken into account for the spatially varying earthquake ground motion. Depending on variation in the earthquake motion, the response values of the cable-stayed bridge supported on firm, medium and soft foundation soil are obtained, separately. The effects of SSI on the stochastic response of the cable-stayed bridge are also investigated including foundation as a rigidly capped vertical pile groups. In this approach, piles closely grouped together beneath the towers are viewed as a single equivalent upright beam. The soil-pile interaction is linearly idealized as an upright beam on Winkler foundation model which is commonly used to study the response of single piles. A sufficient number of springs on the beam should be used along the length of the piles. The springs near the surface are usually the most important to characterize the response of the piles surrounded by the soil; thus a closer spacing may be used in that region. However, in generally springs are evenly spaced at about half the diameter of the pile. The results of the stochastic analysis with and without the SSI are compared each other while the bridge is under the sway of the spatially varying earthquake ground motion. Specifically, in case of rigid towers and soft soil condition, it is pointed out that the SSI should be significantly taken into account for the design of such bridges.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.21-41
• /
• 2010

Multi-span steel-concrete composite (SCC) bridges are very sensitive to earthquake loading. Extensive damage may occur not only in the substructures (piers), which are expected to yield, but also in the other components (e.g., deck, abutments) involved in carrying the seismic loads. Current seismic codes allow the design of regular bridges by means of linear elastic analysis based on inelastic design spectra. In bridges with superstructure transverse motion restrained at the abutments, a dual load path behavior is observed. The sequential yielding of the piers can lead to a substantial change in the stiffness distribution. Thus, force distributions and displacement demand can significantly differ from linear elastic analysis predictions. The objectives of this study are assessing the influence of piers-deck stiffness ratio and of soil-structure interaction effects on the seismic behavior of continuous SCC bridges with dual load path, and evaluating the suitability of linear elastic analysis in predicting the actual seismic behavior of these bridges. Parametric analysis results are presented and discussed for a common bridge typology. The response dependence on the parameters is studied by nonlinear multi-record incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). Comparisons are made with linear time history analysis results. The results presented suggest that simplified linear elastic analysis based on inelastic design spectra could produce very inaccurate estimates of the structural behavior of SCC bridges with dual load path.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.70 no.2
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2019

In this study, stochastic responses of a cable-stayed bridge subjected to the spatially varying earthquake ground motion are investigated for variable local soil cases and wave velocities. Quincy Bay-view cable-stayed bridge built on the Mississippi River in Illinois, USA selected as a numerical example. The bridge is composed of two H-shaped concrete towers, double plane fan type cables and a composite concrete-steel girder deck. The spatial variability of the ground motion is considered with the coherency function, which is represented by the components of incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The incoherence effect is investigated by considering Harichandran and Vanmarcke model, the site-response effect is outlined by using hard, medium and soft soil types, and the wave-passage effect is taken into account by using 1000, 600 and 200 m/s wave velocities for the hard, medium and soft soils, respectively. Mean of maximum response values obtained from the analyses are compared with those of the specific cases of the ground motion model. It is concluded that the obtained results from the bridge model increase as the differences between local soil conditions cases of the bridge supports change from firm to soft. Moreover, the variation of the wave velocity has important effects on the responses of the deck and towers as compared with those of the travelling constant wave velocity case. In addition, the variability of the ground motions should be considered in the analysis of long span cable-stayed bridges to obtain more accurate results in calculating the bridge responses.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.227-239
• /
• 2018

Integral abutment bridges (IABs) have no joint across the length of bridge and are therefore also known as jointless bridges. IABs have many advantages, such as structural integrity, efficiency, and stability. More importantly, IABs have proven to be have both low maintenance and construction costs. However, due to the restraints at both ends of the girder due to the absence of a gap (joint), special design considerations are required. For example, while replacing the deck slabs to extend the service life of the IAB, the buckling strength of the steel girder without a deck slab could be much smaller than the case with deck slab in place. With no deck slab, the addition of thermal expansion in the steel girders generates passive earth pressure from the abutment and if the applied axial force is greater than the buckling strength of the steel girders, buckling failure can occur. In this study, numerical simulations were performed to estimate the buckling strength of typical steel girders in IABs. The effects of girder length, the width of flange and thickness of flange, imperfection due to fabrication and construction errors on the buckling strengths of multiple and single girders in IABs are studied. The effect of girder spacing, span length ratio (for a three span girder) and self-weight effects on the buckling strength are also studied. For estimation of the reaction force of the abutment generated by the passive earth pressure of the soil, BA 42/96 (2003), PennDOT DM4 (2015) and the LTI proposed equations (2009) were used and the results obtained are compared with the buckling strength of the steel girders. Using the selected design equations and the results obtained from the numerical analysis, equations for preventing the buckling failure of steel girders during deck replacement for maintenance are presented.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.81-89
• /
• 2023

A simplified calculation method of natural vibration characteristics of high-speed railway multi-span bridge-longitudinal ballastless track system is proposed. The rail, track slab, base slab, main beam, bearing, pier, cap and pile foundation are taken into account, and the multi-span longitudinal ballastless track-beam-bearing-pier-cap-pile foundation integrated model (MBTIM) is established. The energy equation of each component of the MBTIM based on Timoshenko beam theory is constructed. Using the improved Fourier series, and the Rayleigh-Ritz method and Hamilton principle are combined to obtain the extremum of the total energy function. The simplified calculation formula of the natural vibration frequency of the MBTIM under the influence of vertical and longitudinal vibration is derived and verified by numerical methods. The influence law of the natural vibration frequency of the MBTIM is analyzed considering and not considering the participation of each component of the MBTIM, the damage of the track interlayer component and the stiffness change of each layer component. The results show that the error between the calculation results of the formula and the numerical method in this paper is less than 3%, which verifies the correctness of the method in this paper. The high-order frequency of the MBTIM is significantly affected considering the track, bridge pier, pile soil and pile cap, while considering the influence of pile cap on the low-order and high-order frequency of the MBTIM is large. The influence of component damage such as void beneath slab, mortar debonding and fastener failure on each order frequency of the MBTIM is basically the same, and the influence of component damage less than 10m on the first fourteen order frequency of the MBTIM is small. The bending stiffness of track slab and rail has no obvious influence on the natural frequency of the MBTIM, and the bending stiffness of main beam has influence on the natural frequency of the MBTIM. The bending stiffness of pier and base slab only has obvious influence on the high-order frequency of the MBTIM. The natural vibration characteristics of the MBTIM play an important guiding role in the safety analysis of high-speed train running, the damage detection of track-bridge structure and the seismic design of railway bridge.

• Geotechnical Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.5-16
• /
• 1992

The main purpose of this the sutdy is to develop the reinforced earth structure design method considering induced stresses and deflections resulting from placement and compaction of soil. In this paper, the new reinforcement Geolog developed by the author is also introduced which is being used as one of the effective earth reinforcing structure against compaction induced stresses. This study adopted the Seed's bilinear model in the estimation of the com paction induced stresses and compute the peak lateral stresses during compaction by doubled Boussinessq's elastic solution of mirror image theory, thereafter, calculate the residual compaction induced lateral stresses from the above peak lateral stress by the residual fraction. It is considered to be reasonable that the compaction induced stresses be added to the lateral earth pressures estimated from conventional gravity analysis considering the actual stresses during service life of the structures. "GEOLOG", a composite of steel bar and attached concrete stopper is found to be effective against tension and pull - out failure. In this paper, the design method considering the compaction induced stresses and the effect of Geolog reinforcement is suggested for the remforced earth structures where backkfill settlement on displacements are not allowed as in the cases of the bridge abutments or double faced reinforcement earth structures.tructures.