Methodology for Automation of Continuous Highway Bridge Design
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 117, Issue 9
Abstract
A methodology for complete automation of the conventional highway bridge design for minimum cost is presented. To make such an automated process practical and cost‐effective, efficient interface of three tasks—finite‐element analysis to generate influence surfaces, critical design force computation, and optimization is suggested. Experiments with the program developed based on the suggested methodology indicate that the cost of conventionally designed continuous steel plate girder highway bridges can be reduced by as much as 25%. Approximately 80% of the savings is due to the use of three‐dimensional finite‐element analysis and influence surfaces. About 20% of the savings accrues from the use of optimization. The methodology is general and can be applied to the design of any type of continuous multispan highway bridge.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 117 • Issue 9 • September 1991
Pages: 2584 - 2598
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1991
Published in print: Sep 1991
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