In-Plane Creep Buckling of Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular Arches

The creep-induced deformation of the arch rib of concrete-filled steel tubular （CFST） arches under a sustained load can increase the bending moment, which may lead to earlier stability failure called creep buckling. To investigate the influences of concrete creep on the buckling strength of arches, a theoretical analysis for the creep buckling of CFST circular arches under distributed radial load is performed. The simplified Arutyunyan-Maslov （AM） creep law is used to model the creep behavior of concrete core, and the creep integral operator is introduced. The analytical solutions of the time-dependent buckling strength under the sustained load are achieved and compared with the existing formula based on the age-adjusted effective modulus method （AEMM）. Then the solutions are used to determine the influences of the steel ratio and the first loading age on the creep buckling of CFST arches. The results show that the analytical solutions are of good accuracy and applicability. For CFST arches, the steel ratio and the first loading age have significant influences on creep buckling. An approximate log-linear relationship between the decreased degrees of the creep buckling strength and the first loading age is found. For the commonly used parameters, the maximum loss of the buckling strength induced bv concrete creen is close to 40%

Creep of Concrete in Contemporary Code-Type Models

The paper presents and compares the conventional models for creep in cement concrete included in the ACI （American Concrete Institute） guide, Eurocode 2 andfib （International Federation for Structural Concrete） Model Code 2010. For the presentation and comparison of the creep models, creep coefficients are developed. The main factors affecting the prediction of creep in concrete are outlined, comparing the influence of concrete grade, environmental conditions, member size and loading conditions. Most of the conventional models currently used for creep in cement concrete develop the code-type procedures and are calibrated for normal- and high-strength concretes. They enable a more accurate analysis and better assessment of the time-dependent deformation of concrete structures at the design stage. Their complexity is significantly reduced and a range of influencing parameters are excluded from the models for simplicity and easy adaptation. The comparison of the models shows that thefib Model Code 2010 model is more consistent and calibrated to avoid shortcomings in the previous models.

Health monitoring and comparative analysis of time-dependent effect using different prediction models for self-anchored suspension bridge with extra-wide concrete girder

The structural health status of Hunan Road Bridge during its two-year service period from April 2015 to April 2017 was studied based on monitored data.The Hunan Road Bridge is the widest concrete self-anchored suspension bridge in China at present.Its structural changes and safety were evaluated using the health monitoring data,which included deformations,detailed stresses,and vibration characteristics.The influences of the single and dual effects comprising the ambient temperature changes and concrete shrinkage and creep(S&C)were analyzed based on the measured data.The ANSYS beam finite element model was established and validated by the measured bridge completion state.The comparative analyses of the prediction results of long-term concrete S&C effects were conducted using CEB-FIP 90 and B3 prediction models.The age-adjusted effective modulus method was adopted to simulate the aging behavior of concrete.Prestress relaxation was considered in the stepwise calculation.The results show that the transverse deviations of the towers are noteworthy.The spatial effect of the extra-wide girder is significant,as the compressive stress variations at the girder were uneven along the transverse direction.General increase and decrease in the girder compressive stresses were caused by seasonal ambient warming and cooling,respectively.The temperature gradient effects in the main girder were significant.Comparisons with the measured data showed that more accurate prediction results were obtained with the B3 prediction model,which can consider the concrete material parameters,than with the CEB-FIP 90 model.Significant deflection of the midspan girder in the middle region will be caused by the deviations of the cable anchoring positions at the girder ends and tower tops toward the midspan due to concrete S&C.The increase in the compressive stresses at the top plate and decrease in the stresses at the bottom plate at the middle midspan will be significant.The pre-deviations of the towers toward the sidespan and pre-lift of the midspan girder can reduce the adverse influences of concrete S&C on the structural health of the self-anchored suspension bridge with extra-wide concrete girder.

Strain Monitoring and Stress Analysis of a Post-Prestressed Tunnel Liner

The strain monitoring and stress analysis of a new type of post-prestressed tunnel liner were carried out. The instrumentation block of the tunnel liner, with the dimensions of 12.06 m in length, 6 500 mm in diameter, and 650 mm in thickness, was post-prestressed with the unbonded tendons, each of which consists of 8 pieces of double-looped strands and the axial spacing of the tendons is 500 mm. Concrete strain meters, rebar meters, load cell and zero-stress meters were installed for the strain monitoring. The tensioning loads were applied incrementally in three cycles (50%, 77% and 100%) at the concrete age of 28 d and the tensioning work lasted for 187.1 h. Strain readings were taken before and after each cycle during tensioning period and at the specified time interval after tensioning period. It is found that concrete creep developed over tensioning period is 30% of total strain and 41.5% of elastic strain respectively. Prestress force in the unbonded tendon and concrete stress in the liner were evaluated according to the observed strain variations. Both of them are time-dependent, and about 5.3%, 8.3% and 9.0% of the prestress losses are observed at the age of 1 d, 30 d and 60 d respectively after stressing. The distribution of prestress in the liner is relatively uniform and meets the design requirement.