Numerical Prediction of Long-Term Deformation for Prestressed Concrete Bridges under Random Heavy Traffic Loads
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 11
Abstract
Many prestressed concrete bridges exhibit increasing long-term deflections under heavy traffic loads. Cyclic creep from increasing heavy traffic has received gradually increasing attention in recent years, but the creep strain is usually treated as an empirical and nonrandom expression. In this paper, a multifactor coupled creep model for concrete is established, in which the material degradation and irrecoverable deformation under cyclic loads are redefined. Based on weigh-in-motion (WIM) and video data, a random vehicle model is presented and stress amplitudes from vehicle loads are obtained, through which fatigue damage and creep strain at every Gaussian integration point are calculated. Based on the concrete creep and random vehicle model, a three-dimensional (3D) probabilistic finite-element (FE) analysis is conducted on a prestressed continuous girder bridge subjected to heavy trucks and verified by 10-year measured data. Results show that the influence of concrete static creep and prestress loss is significant. Fatigue creep from heavy trucks plays a significant role, leading to continuous deflection and cracking of box girders. The range of deflection from random heavy trucks is about 18 mm after 10 years. The sources of different types of cracks are also distinguished. This study reveals the reasons for excessive deflection of bridges under heavy trucks via a new concrete creep model and accurate modeling of the random traffic loads.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The work presented here is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51578370) and the National Science Fund of Tianjin (16JCZDJC40300 and 16YFZCSF00460). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the sponsors.
References
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 2008. Prediction of creep, shrinkage, and temperature effects in concrete structures. ACI 209R-92. Farmington Hills, MI: ACI.
Akiyama, M., H. Matsuzaki, H. T. Dang, and M. Suzuki. 2012. “Reliability-based capacity design for reinforced concrete bridge structures.” Struct. Infrastruct. Eng. 8 (12): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2010.507707.
Ates, S. 2011. “Numerical modelling of continuous concrete box girder bridges considering construction stages.” Appl. Math. Model. 35 (8): 3809–3820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2011.02.016.
Bažant, Z. P., and S. Baweja. 1995. “Creep and shrinkage prediction model for analysis and design of concrete structures—Model B3.” Mater. Struct. 28 (6): 357–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02473152.
Bažant, Z. P., and Y. Xi. 1995. “Continuous retardation spectrum for solidification theory of concrete creep.” J. Eng. Mech. 121 (2): 281–288. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(1995)121:2(281.
Bažant, Z. P., and Q. Yu. 2013. “Relaxation of prestressing steel at varying strain and temperature: Viscoplastic constitutive relation.” J. Eng. Mech. 139 (7): 814–823. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000533.
Bažant, Z. P., Q. Yu, and G.-H. Li. 2012a. “Excessive long-time deflections of prestressed box girders. I: Record-span bridge in Palau and other paradigms.” J. Struct. Eng. 138 (6): 676–686. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000487.
Bažant, Z. P., Q. Yu, and G.-H. Li. 2012b. “Excessive long-time deflections of prestressed box girders. II: Numerical analysis and lessons Learned.” J. Struct. Eng. 138 (6): 687–696. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000375.
Bigaud, D., and O. Ali. 2014. “Time-variant flexural reliability of RC beams with externally bonded CFRP under combined fatigue-corrosion actions.” Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf. 131: 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2014.04.016.
Cao, G. H., J. X. Hu, and K. Zhang. 2016. “Coupling model for calculating prestress loss caused by relaxation loss, shrinkage, and creep of concrete.” J. Cent. South Univ. 23 (2): 470–478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-016-3092-2.
CEB-FIP (European Committee for Concrete–International Federation for Prestressing). 1990. CEB-FIP model code for concrete structures. London: Thomas Telford.
Chen, X., J. Bu, X. Fan, J. Lu, and L. Xu. 2017. “Effect of loading frequency and stress level on low cycle fatigue behavior of plain concrete in direct tension.” Constr. Build. Mater. 133: 367–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.12.085.
Faria, R., J. Oliver, and M. Cervera. 1998. “A strain-based plastic viscous-damage model for massive concrete structures.” Int. J. Solids Struct. 35 (14): 1533–1558. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7683(97)00119-4.
Gardner, N. J., and Lockman, M. J. 2001. “Design provisions for drying shrinkage and creep of normal-strength concrete.” ACI Mater. J. 98 (2): 159–167.
Guo, T., M. F. Dan, and Y. Chen. 2012. “Fatigue reliability assessment of steel bridge details integrating weigh-in-motion data and probabilistic finite element analysis.” Comput. Struct. 112–113 (4): 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc.2012.09.002.
Hedegaard, B. D., C. E. W. French, and C. K. Shield. 2016. “Effects of cyclic temperature on the time-dependent behavior of posttensioned concrete bridges.” J. Struct. Eng. 142 (10): 04016062. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001538.
Holmen, J. O. 1982. “Fatigue of concrete by constant and variable amplitude loading.” ACI Spec. Publ. 75: 71–110.
Hsu, T. C. 1981. “Fatigue of plain concrete.” ACI J. Proc. 78 (4): 292–304.
Huang, H., S.-S. Huang, and K. Pilakoutas. 2018. “Modeling for assessment of long-term behavior of prestressed concrete box-girder bridges.” J. Bridge Eng. 23 (3): 04018002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001210.
Isojeh, B., M. El-Zeghayar, and F. J. Vecchio. 2017. “Concrete damage under fatigue loading in uniaxial compression.” ACI Mater. J. 114 (2): 225–235. https://doi.org/10.14359/51689477.
Jirásek, M., and P. Havlásek. 2014. “Accurate approximations of concrete creep compliance functions based on continuous retardation spectra.” Comput. Struct. 135: 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc.2014.01.024.
Lee, J., and G. L. Fenves. 1998. “A plastic-damage concrete model for earthquake analysis of dams.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn. 27 (9): 937–956. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-9845(199809)27:9%3C937::AID-EQE764%3E3.0.CO;2-5.
Malm, R., and H. Sundquist. 2010. “Time-dependent analyses of segmentally constructed balanced cantilever bridges.” Eng. Struct. 32 (4): 1038–1045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2009.12.030.
Ministry of Transport of China. 1989. Code for design of highway reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete bridges and culverts. JTJ 021-89. [In Chinese.] Beijing: Ministry of Transport of China.
Ministry of Transport of China. 2004. Code for design of highway reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete bridges and culverts. JTG D62-2004. [In Chinese.] Beijing: Ministry of Transport of China.
Murdock, J. W., and C. E. Kesler. 1958. “Effect of range of stress on fatigue strength of plain concrete beams.” ACI J. Proc. 55 (8): 221–231.
Park, H., and J. Y. Kim. 2005. “Plasticity model using multiple failure criteria for concrete in compression.” Int. J. Solids Struct. 42 (8): 2303–2322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2004.09.029.
Robertson, I. N. 2005. “Prediction of vertical deflections for a long-span prestressed concrete bridge structure.” Eng. Struct. 27 (12): 1820–1827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2005.05.013.
Snežana, S. R., S. R. Stošić, and N. P. Pecic. 2014. “Research of long-term behaviour of non-prestressed precast concrete beams made continuous.” Eng. Struct. 70: 11–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.03.022.
Sousa, H., J. Bento, and J. Figueiras. 2013. “Construction assessment and long-term prediction of prestressed concrete bridges based on monitoring data.” Eng. Struct. 52 (6): 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2013.02.003.
Tong, T., Z. Liu, J. Zhang, and Q. Yu. 2016. “Long-term performance of prestressed concrete bridges under the intertwined effects of concrete damage, static creep and traffic-induced cyclic creep.” Eng. Struct. 127: 510–524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2016.09.004.
Tu, B., Z. Fang, Y. Dong, and D. M. Frangopol. 2017. “Time-variant reliability analysis of widened deteriorating prestressed concrete bridges considering shrinkage and creep.” Eng. Struct. 153: 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.09.060.
Voyiadjis, G. Z., and Z. N. Taqieddin. 2009. “Elastic plastic and damage model for concrete materials: Part I—Theoretical formulation.” Int. J. Struct. Changes Solids. 1 (1): 31–59.
Wendner, R., T. Tong, A. Strauss, and Q. Yu. 2015. “A case study on correlations of axial shortening and deflection with concrete creep asymptote in segmentally-erected prestressed box girders.” Struct. Infrastruct. Eng. 11 (12): 1672–1687. https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2014.992442.
Wu, J. Y., J. Li, and F. Rui. 2006. “An energy release rate-based plastic-damage model for concrete.” Int. J. Solids Struct. 43 (3): 583–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2005.05.038.
Yu, Q., Z. P. Bažant, and R. Wendner. 2012. “Improved algorithm for efficient and realistic creep analysis of large creep-sensitive concrete structures.” ACI Struct. J. 109: 665–676.
Zhu, J., and Q. Meng. 2017. “Effective and fine analysis for temperature effect of bridges in natural environments.” J. Bridge Eng. 22 (6): 04017017. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001039.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 11 • November 2019
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 26, 2018
Accepted: Jun 4, 2019
Published online: Sep 6, 2019
Published in print: Nov 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Feb 6, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.