Finite-Element Modeling of Twin Steel Box-Girder Bridges for Redundancy Evaluation
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 10
Abstract
A detailed finite-element (FE) modeling procedure is presented for evaluating the redundancy of twin steel box-girder bridges. For this study, it was assumed that the passage of a truck live load triggers the sudden fracture of one girder. Because of the possibility of localized damage in some bridge components, the proposed computational models incorporate material nonlinearity to represent cracking and crushing of concrete and steel yielding. In addition, the proposed FE models are capable of capturing deck haunch separation by adopting a stud connection failure model. This failure mode was first observed during testing of a full-scale bridge that included a girder with a full-depth fracture. Analysis results show that typical twin steel box-girder bridges likely have greater redundancy than the current provisions indicate and that stud connection failure could significantly affect the redundancy of steel box-girder bridges.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 20 • Issue 10 • October 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 13, 2014
Accepted: Sep 10, 2014
Published online: Oct 13, 2014
Published in print: Oct 1, 2015
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