Field Test and Finite-Element Model of a Skewed Railroad Truss Bridge
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
The skew angle affects the geometry and design of a bridge in many ways. For example, skew angles greater than 20° will affect the bending moment and the shear force in an exterior beam. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center performed a full-scale load test on a skewed railroad steel truss bridge at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in July, 2007. The superstructure of the bridge was instrumented with 42 reusable strain transducers to accurately measure the structure’s response to a 260 kip train engine. Analyses were carried out to determine the effect of the skew angle in that response. A three-dimensional finite-element model (FEM) was developed from the data collected during the load test. The measured internal axial forces compared satisfactorily with the results from the FEM analysis. After the calibration of the model, the results indicated that the skew angle decreased the internal axial forces by approximately 16%, which was comparable to current design practice.
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Acknowledgments
This research has been funded by the AASALT Army Basic Research In-House Laboratory Independent Research Program. The permission to publish this work was granted by the Director of the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL).
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 17 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 165 - 167
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 25, 2010
Accepted: Dec 22, 2010
Published online: Dec 27, 2010
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
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