Numerical Analysis of Cold-Formed Thin-Walled Steel Short Columns with Pitting Corrosion during Bridge Construction

Pitting corrosion is harmful during bridge construction,which will lead to uneven roughness of steel surfaces and reduce the thickness of steel.Hence,the effect of pitting corrosion on the mechanical properties of cold-formed thin-walled steel stub columns is studied,and the empirical formulas are established through regression fitting to predict the ultimate load of web and flange under pitting corrosion.In detail,the failure modes and load-displacement curves of specimens with different locations,area ratios,and depths are obtained through a large number of non-linear finite element analysis.As for the specimens with pitting corrosion on the web,all the specimens are subject to local buckling failure,and the failure mode will not change with pitting corrosion,but the failure location will change with pitting corrosion location;the size,location,and area ratio of pitting corrosion have little influence on the ultimate load of cold-formed thin-walled steel short columns,but the loss rate of pitting corrosion section area has a greater impact on the ultimate bearing capacity.As for the specimen with flange pitting corrosion,the location and area ratio of pitting corrosion have less influence on the ultimate load of cold-formed thin-walled steel short columns,and the section area loss rate has greater influence on the ultimate bearing capacity;the impact of web pitting corrosion on the ultimate load is greater than that of flange pitting corrosion under the same condition of pitting corrosion section area.The prediction formulas of limit load which are suitable for pitting corrosion of web and flange are established,which can provide a reference for performance evaluation of corroded cold-formed thin-walled steel.

Fatigue Crack Propagation Law of Corroded Steel Box Girders in Long Span Bridges

In order to investigate the fatigue performance of orthotropic anisotropic steel bridge decks,this study realizes the simulation of the welding process through elastic-plastic finite element theory,thermal-structural sequential coupling,and the birth-death element method.The simulated welding residual stresses are introduced into the multiscale finite element model of the bridge as the initial stress.Furthermore,the study explores the impact of residual stress on crack propagation in the fatigue-vulnerable components of the corroded steel box girder.The results indicate that fatigue cracks at the weld toe of the top deck,the weld root of the top deck,and the opening of the transverse diaphragm will not propagate under the action of a standard vehicle load.However,the inclusion of residual stress leads to the propagation of these cracks.When considering residual stress,the fatigue crack propagation paths at the weld toe of the transverse diaphragm and the U-rib weld toe align with those observed in actual bridges.In the absence of residual stress,the cracks at the toe of the transverse diaphragm with a 15%mass loss rate are categorized as type I cracks.Conversely,when residual stress is considered,these cracks become I-II composite cracks.Residual stress significantly alters the cumulative energy release rate of the three fracturemodes.Therefore,incorporating the influence of residual stress is essential when assessing the fatigue performance of corroded steel box girders in long-span bridges.

Closed-form solution to thin-walled box girders considering effects of shear deformation and shear lag

Considering three longitudinal displacement functions and uniform axial displacement functions for shear lag effect and uniform axial deformation of thin-walled box girder with varying depths,a simple and efficient method with high precision to analyze the shear lag effect of thin-walled box girders was proposed.The governing differential equations and boundary conditions of the box girder under lateral loading were derived based on the energy-variational method,and closed-form solutions to stress and deflection corresponding to lateral loading were obtained.Analysis and calculations were carried out with respect to a trapezoidal box girder under concentrated loading or uniform loading and a rectangular box girder under concentrated loading.The analytical results were compared with numerical solutions derived according to the high order finite strip element method and the experimental results.The investigation shows that the closed-form solution is in good agreement with the numerical solutions derived according to the high order finite strip method and the experimental results,and has good stability.Because of the shear lag effect,the stress in cross-section centroid is no longer zero,thus it is not reasonable enough to assume that the strain in cross-section centroid is zero without considering uniform axial deformation.

Microstructures and Properties of 550 MPa Grade High Strength Thin-walled H-beam Steel

The microstructures and mechanical properties of 550 MPa grade lightweight high strength thin-walled H-beam steel were experimentally studied. The experimental results show that the microstructure of the air-cooled H-beam steel sample is consisted of ferrite, pearlite and a small amount of granular bainites as well as fine and dispersive V（C,N） precipitates. The microstructure of the water-cooled steel sample is consisted of ferrite and bainite as well as a small amount of fine pearlites. The microstructure of the water-cooled sample is finer than that of the air-cooled sample with the average intercept size of the surface grains reaching to 3.5 gna. The finish rolling temperature of the thin-walled high strength H-beam steel is in the range of 750 ~C-850 ~C. The lower the finish rolling temperature and the faster the cooling rate, the finer the ferrite grains, the volume fraction of bainite is increased through water cooling process. Grain refinement strengthening and precipitation strengthening are used as major strengthening means to develop 550 MPa grade lightweight high strength thin- walled H-beam steel. Vanadium partially soluted in the matrix and contributes to the solution strengthening. The 550 MPa grade high-strength thin-walled H-beam steel could be developed by direct air cooling after hot rolling to fully meet the requirements of the target properties.

Lateral static and dynamic characteristics of thin-walled box girder

To analyze the static and dynamic behaviors of the thin-walled box girder in its lateral webs in consideration of shear lag effect and shear deformation, an approach based on the minimum potential principle is introduced in this paper. Both static and dynamic response equations as well as the corresponding natural boundary conditions of the box girder are deduced. Meanwhile, three generalized displacement functions： w （x） , U（x） and O（x） are employed and their differences in the calculus of variation are quantitatively investigated. The comparison of finite shell element results with analytical results of calculation examples validates the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Dynamic Response Impact of Vehicle Braking on Simply Supported Beam Bridges with Corrugated Steel Webs Based on Vehicle-Bridge Coupled Vibration Analysis

A novel approach for analyzing coupled vibrations between vehicles and bridges is presented,taking into account spatiotemporal effects and mechanical phenomena resulting fromvehicle braking.Efficient modeling and solution of bridge vibrations induced by vehicle deceleration are realized using this method.The method’s validity and reliability are substantiated through numerical examples.A simply supported beam bridge with a corrugated steel web is taken as an example and the effects of parameters such as the initial vehicle speed,braking acceleration,braking location,and road surface roughness on the mid-span displacement and impact factor of the bridge are analyzed.The results show that vehicle braking significantly amplifies mid-span displacement and impact factor responses in comparison to uniform vehicular motion across the bridge.Notably,the influence of wheelto-bridge friction forces is of particular significance and cannot be overlooked.When the vehicle initiates braking near the middle of the span,both the mid-span displacement and impact factor of the bridge exhibit substantial increases,further escalating with higher braking acceleration.Under favorable road surface conditions,the midspan displacement and the impact factor during vehicle braking may exceed the design values stipulated by codes.It is important to note that road surface roughness exerts a more pronounced effect on the impact factor of the bridge in comparison to the effects of vehicle braking.

A comparative study on the hull strength of a ship with thin-walled box girders

Based on the Finite Element Analysis and Thin Walled-Box girder Mechanics, two design concepts of adding box girders under main deck in order to increase the hull strength of ship are presented. By comparison and analysis on the longitudinal strength, torsion strength and deck buckling between designed concepts and the original concept, it is found that by adding box girders under the main deck, the weight of hull structure is increased by lower than 10%, but the stress on the plate of the main deck is reduced by about 10%, the stress on the plating of the second deck is reduced about 20%. The shear stress on the plating of both of the main deck and second deck is reduced, but the shear stresses in several nodes are increased. Also the capability of resisting damage to ship is obviously increased by adding box girders under the main deck. The deck buckling is also increased by more than 90%. Consequently, the box girders added under the main deck are useful and effective to increase the strength of hull and ship survivability.

A nonlinear explicit dynamic GBT formulation for modeling impact response of thin-walled steel members

A nonlinear explicit dynamic finite element formulation based on the generalized beam theory(GBT)is proposed and developed to simulate the dynamic responses of prismatic thin-walled steel members under transverse impulsive loads.Considering the rate strengthening and thermal softening effects on member impact behavior,a modified Cowper-Symonds model for constructional steels is utilized.The element displacement field is built upon the superposition of GBT cross-section deformation modes,so arbitrary deformations such as cross-section distortions,local buckling and warping shear can all be involved by the proposed model.The amplitude function of each cross-section deformation mode is approximated by the cubic non-uniform B-spline basis functions.The Kirchhoff s thin-plate assumption is utilized in the construction of the bending related displacements.The Green-Lagrange strain tensor and the second Piola-Kirchhoff(PK2)stress tensor are employed to measure deformations and stresses at any material point,where stresses are assumed to be in plane-stress state.In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed GBT model,three numerical cases involving impulsive loading of the thin-walled parts are given.The GBT results are compared with those of the Ls-Dyna shell finite element.It is shown that the proposed model and the shell finite element analysis has equivalent accuracy in displacement and stress.Moreover,the proposed model is much more computationally efficient and structurally clearer than the shell finite elements.

A Method in Mixed Frequency-time domain for Fatigue Life Estimation of Steel Girders of Cable-stayed Bridges Due to Buffeting

发展了斜拉桥钢主梁抖振疲劳寿命的混合时－频域方法．在本方法中，首先建立了桥面处的风速风向概率密度函数，导出的应力谱因其包括背景分量而不再是窄带谱．据应力谱模拟出了疲劳应力的时间历程，并用雨流计数法统计了其幅值特性．基于修正的Ｍｉｎｅｒ定理导出了考虑风速风向作用的桥梁主梁抖振疲劳寿命的估算公式，并用此分析了杨浦大桥钢主梁的抖振疲劳寿命．结果表明，风向对抖振疲劳寿命有很大影响；杨浦大桥主梁的疲劳寿命远大于设计寿命．

Mechanical Behavior of a Partially Encased Composite Girder with Corrugated Steel Web： Interaction of Shear and Bending

The synergistic use of partially encased concrete and composite girders with corrugated steel webs （CGCSWs） has been proposed to avoid the buckling of corrugated steel webs and compression steel flanges under large combined shear force and bending moment in the hogging area. First, model tests were carried out on two specimens with different shear spans to investigate the mechanical behavior, including the load-carrying capacity, failure modes, flexural and shear stress distribution, and development of concrete cracking. Experimental results show that the interaction of shear force and bending moment causes the failure of specimens. The bending-to-shear ratio does not affect the shear stiffness of a composite girder in the elastic stage when concrete cracking does not exist, but significantly influ- ences the shear stiffness after concrete cracking. In addition, composite sections in the elastic stage sat- isfy the assumption of the plane section under combined shear force and bending moment. However, after concrete cracking in the tension field, the normal stresses of a corrugated web in the tension area become small due to the ＂accordion effect,＂ with almost zero stress at the flat panels but recognizable stress at the inclined panels. Second, three-dimensional finite-element （FE） models considering material and geometric nonlinearity were built and validated by experiments, and parametric analyses were conducted on composite girders with different lengths and heights to determine their load-carrying capacity when subjected to combined loads. Finally, an interaction formula with respect to shear and flexural strength is offered on the basis of experimental and numerical results in order to evaluate the load- carrying capacity of such composite structures, thereby providing a reference for the design of partially encased composite girders with corrugated steel webs （PECGCSWs） under combined flexural and shear loads.

Estimating extreme temperature differences in steel box girder using long-term measurement data

The extreme temperature differences in fiat steel box girder of a cable-stayed bridge were studied.Firstly,by using the long-term measurement data collected by the structural health monitoring system installed on the Runyang Cable-stayed Bridge,the daily variations as well as seasonal ones of measured temperature differences in the box girder cross-section area were summarized.The probability distribution models of temperature differences were further established and the extreme temperature differences were estimated with a return period of 100 years.Finally,the temperature difference models in cross-section area were proposed for bridge thermal design.The results show that horizontal temperature differences in top plate and vertical temperature differences between top plate and bottom plate are considerable.All the positive and negative temperature differences can be described by the weighted sum of two Weibull distributions.The maximum positive and negative horizontal temperature differences in top plate are 10.30 ℃ and -13.80 ℃,respectively.And the maximum positive and negative vertical temperature differences between top plate and bottom plate are 17.30 ℃ and-3.70 ℃,respectively.For bridge thermal design,there are two vertical temperature difference models between top plate and bottom plate,and six horizontal temperature difference models in top plate.

Approach for analyzing the ultimate strength of concrete filled steel tubular arch bridges with stiffening girder

A convenient approach is proposed for analyzing the ultimate load carrying capacity of concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) arch bridge with stiffening girders. A fiber model beam element is specially used to simulate the stiffening girder and CFST arch rib. The geometric nonlinearity, material nonlinearity, influence of the construction process and the contribution of prestressing reinforcement are all taken into consideration. The accuracy of this method is validated by comparing its results with experimental results. Finally, the ultimate strength of an abnormal CFST arch bridge with stiffening girders is investigated and the effect of construction method is discussed. It is concluded that the construction process has little effect on the ultimate strength of the bridge.

Fatigue Performance of Orthotropic Steel Decks in Super-Wide Steel Box Girder Considering Transverse Distribution of Vehicle Load

This study presents an investigation on the fatigue analysis of four types of details on orthotropic steel decks(OSDs)for a cable-stayed super-wide steel box girder bridge based on finite-element analysis(FEA)with vehicle transverse distribution model(VTDM).A high-fidelity 3D FE model verified by the static load test is established to satisfy the fatigue analysis accuracy.The stress behavior of super-wide steel box girders under the vehicle load at different lane locations is investigated.Then,considering the effect of VTDM,the fatigue life analysis of four typical details is performed using the Miner cumulative damage rule.The results show that the vehicle transverse location has a great influence on the stress behavior of details with sharp influence surface,and the stress ranges in the outermost lane are larger than those in other lanes,indicating that the details of OSD in the outermost lane are prone to fatigue.The fatigue life analysis indicates that the diaphragm cutout is more prone to fatigue than other details,which should be carefully treated in bridge maintenance.

Controlling deflection of long steel I-shaped girder bridge using two V-shaped pre-tensioning cables

Despite appropriate design of girder under bending and shear,the deflection of long steel girders usually exceeds the allowable range,and therefore the structural designers encounter challenges in this regard.Considering significant features of the cables,namely,low weight,small cross section,and high tensile strength,they are used in this research so as to control the deflection of long girder bridges,rather than increasing their heights.In this study,theoretical relations are developed to calculate the increase in pre-tensioning force of V-shaped steel cables under external loading as well as the deflection of steel girder bridges with V-shaped cables and different support conditions.To verify the theoretical relations,the steel girder bridge is modeled in the finite element ABAQUS software with different support conditions without cable and with V-shaped cables.The obtained results show that the theoretical relations can appropriately predict the deflection of girder bridge with V-shaped cables and different support conditions.In this study,the effects of the distance from support on the deflection of mid span are studied in both simply supported and fixed supported girder bridge so as to obtain the appropriate distance from support causing the minimum deflection.

Fatigue Performance Analysis and Evaluation for Steel Box Girder Based on Structural Health Monitoring System

Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge as a long-span suspension bridge,the finite element model(FEM)of it is established using the ANSYS Software.The beam4 element is used to simulate the main beam to establish the“spine beam”model of the Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge.The calculated low-order vibration mode frequency of the FEM is in good agreement with the completion test results.The model can simulate the overall dynamic response of the bridge.Based on the vehicle load survey,the Monte Carlo method is applied to simulate the traffic load flow.Then the overall dynamic response analysis of FEM is car-ried out.Taking the bending moment of the main beam as the control index,the fatigue sensitive section in the steel box girder of FEM is analyzed.Based on the strain time history data of steel box girder recorded by the structural health mon-itoring system(SHM),the true stress response of steel box girder under vehicle load is extracted.Taking the cumulative fatigue damage increment as the evalua-tion index,the fati gue performance evaluation of the steel box girders is con-ducted based on the collected health monitoring data.The fatigue effect of the beam section near the steel tower,especially the first section of the middle tower,is the key section of the fatigue analysis by health morning system,which is con-sistent with the calculation results of FEM.

Study in the design and manufacture process of the elastic cable anchor box in steel box girder of Taizhou Bridge

Taizhou Yangtze River Highway Bridge is a large span suspension bridge with three pylons. The elastic cables are installed to connect the steel tower and the steel box girder. The constraints can increase the safety coefficient of the middle saddle, and improve the stress conditions of the middle pylon and decrease the deflection in the middle of the main girder, as well as the longitudinal displacement of the main girder caused by live loads. The anchorage boxes of the elastic cable are installed in the wind fairing outside the vertical web plate of the box girder. Two anchor boxes form a pair and are arranged parallelly. Eight anchor boxes are installed in the bridge. In this paper, the design scheme and the technical difficulties in manufacturing are briefly discussed with the precision control techniques.

The study of temperature effects on steel box girder for Taizhou Bridge

Using the temperature gradient which was proposed by continuously measuring flat steel box girder of Runyang Bridge, temperature effects of flat steel box girder were studied for Taizhou Bridge. With three temperature gradient models （JTG D60--2004 specification, BS5400 specification and the temperature gradient which was proposed in this paper）, the stress of control sections was calculated by finite element program ANSYS. The calculated result indicated that the temperature gradient that was put forward in JTG D60-2004 specification and BS5400 specification for calculating the stress of fiat steel box girder was not suitable to apply to fiat steel box girder. The temperature gradient on flat steel box girder which was proposed in this paper was reasonable.

GMA material design and construction quality control for asphalt pavement of steel box girder: Case study of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge

To improve the quality of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge paving project,a new paving layer material,Guss-mastic asphalt(GMA),was proposed in this paper by combining the advantages of two types of cast asphalt mixtures:mastic asphalt(MA)and Guss asphalt(GA).Based on the characteristics of GMA,to simulate its actual production process,this study developed a small-simulated cooker mixing equipment.Moreover,the flow degree,60C dynamic stability,and impact toughness were proposed to be used to evaluate the construction and ease,high temperature stability,and fatigue resistance of GMA cast asphalt mixtures,respectively.Moreover,the quality control standards for GMA paving materials by indoor tests,field trial mix GMA material performance tests,and accelerated loading tests were finalized.The study showed that the developed simulated cooker yielded consistent mixing results in the same working environment as the engineering cooker device.Increasing the coarse aggregate incorporation rate,coarsening the mastic epure(ME)gradation composition,and using a smaller oil to stone ratio can reduce the flowability of the GMA materials to varying degrees.The four-point bending fatigue life and impact toughness of the different GMA materials are correlated well.A mobility of<20 s,60C dynamic stability of 400–800 times/mm,15C impact toughness of400 N⋅mm,and cooker car mixing temperature control standard of 210C–230C form an appropriate control index system for the design and production of GMA cast asphalt mixtures.Simultaneously,accelerated loading tests verified the accuracy and reliability of the quality control index system that has been used in the GMA paving project of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge deck and has achieved good application results.

Research on overall assembling and welding process of steel box girder tuyere blocks of Taizhou Bridge

This article presents in detail the assembling and welding process technique of the steel box girder tuyere blocks of Taizhou Bridge. The application of this process technique effectively solves the problem of welding stress release in tuyere block assembling and welding without increasing the number of turns of the blocks and overhead welding, thus avoiding possible structural deformation due to excessive accumulation of internal welding stress, greatly reducing the repeated deformation and correction work during assembling and welding, and ensuring the weld seam quality and overall dimensions of tuvere blocks of Taizhou Bridze.

Stress and noises of steel box girders in Sutong Bridge

Sutong Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 1 088 m. 370 high-precision stress monitoring measured data show that in the process of hoisting the steel box girders,the stress of the main girders is in the fluctuant and complex state and many meteorological factors,such as sunshine radiation,temperature and wind,have important influence on the change of stress of the steel box girders. According to the real-time weather data,the stress data after the process of wavelet denoising from representative measuring points in different weather conditions is picked to establish the stress response brought by meteorological factors with Layered Separation method,thereby basically eliminating the influence of meteorological factors on the stress of main girders,so that accurate and reliable stress data can be got for steel box girders adjustment and cable-tensioned construction control.