Comparison and Selection of Arch-Rib Construction Schemes for Continuous Beam arch Composite Bridge of High Speed Railway

The paper summarizes the four different construction schemes based on engineering cases for the arch rib construction of continuous beam-arch composite bridges for high-speed railways.These methods include in-situ assembly,segmental lifting,incremental launching and longitudinal moving,and vertical rotation.The temporary structural designs,process methods,and technological equipment for each construction scheme are described in detail.The advantages and disadvantages of each scheme and its application scope under various conditions are analyzed,and opinions and suggestions for guiding the application of each scheme are proposed.The comparison and selection analyses show that the four arch rib construction schemes have certain applicability under different conditions such as bridge site status,bridge span,and construction environment.With the continuous increase of bridge span and progress of construction technological equipment,the arch rib construction technology is developing towards the overall erection direction.This leads to more obvious technical advantages of the segmental lifting method,incremental launching and longitudinal moving method,and vertical rotation method.Therefore,it is necessary to select the best construction scheme according to the construction status and technical conditions during application.

Structural Performance of Light Weight Multicellular FRP Composite Bridge Deck Using Finite Element Analysis

Fiber reinforced polymer （FRP） composite materials having advantages such as higher strength to weight than conventional engineering materials, non-corrosiveness and modularization, which should help engineers to obtain more efficient and cost effective structural materials and systems. Currently, FRP composites are becoming more popular in civil engineering applications. The objectives of this research are to study performance and behavior of light weight multi-cellular FRP composite bridge decks （both module and system levels） under various loading conditions through finite element modeling, and to validate analytical response of FRP composite bridge decks with data from laboratory evaluations. The relative deflection, equivalent flexural rigidity, failure load （mode） and load distribution factors （LDF） based on FE results have been compared with experimental data and discussed in detail. The finite element results showing good correlations with experimental data are presented in this work.

Precast steel—UHPC lightweight composite bridge for accelerated bridge construction

In this study,a fully precast steel—ultrahigh performance concrete(UHPC)lightweight composite bridge(LWCB)was proposed based on Mapu Bridge,aiming at accelerating construction in bridge engineering.Cast-in-place joints are generally the controlling factor of segmental structures.Therefore,an innovative girder-to-girder joint that is suitable for LWCB was developed.A specimen consisting of two prefabricated steel—UHPC composite girder parts and one post-cast joint part was fabricated to determine if the joint can effectively transfer load between girders.The flexural behavior of the specimen under a negative bending moment was explored.Finite element analyses of Mapu Bridge showed that the nominal stress of critical sections could meet the required stress,indicating that the design is reasonable.The fatigue performance of the UHPC deck was assessed based on past research,and results revealed that the fatigue performance could meet the design requirements.Based on the test results,a crack width prediction method for the joint interface,a simplified calculation method for the design moment,and a deflection calculation method for the steel—UHPC composite girder in consideration of the UHPC tensile stiffness effect were presented.Good agreements were achieved between the predicted values and test results.

Fatigue evaluation of steel-concrete composite deck in steel truss bridge—A case study

An innovative composite deck system has recently been proposed for improved structural performance.To study the fatigue behavior of a steel-concrete composite bridge deck,we took a newly-constructed rail-cum-road steel truss bridge as a case study.The transverse stress history of the bridge deck near the main truss under the action of a standard fatigue vehicle was calculated using finite element analysis.Due to the fact that fatigue provision remains unavailable in the governing code of highway concrete bridges in China,a preliminary fatigue evaluation was conducted according to the fib Model Code.The results indicate that flexural failure of the bridge deck in the transverse negative bending moment region is the controlling fatigue failure mode.The fatigue life associated with the fatigue fracture of steel reinforcement is 56 years.However,while the top surface of the bridge deck concrete near the truss cracks after just six years,the bridge deck performs with fatigue cracks during most of its design service life.Although fatigue capacity is acceptable under design situations,overloading or understrength may increase its risk of failure.The method presented in this work can be applied to similar bridges for preliminary fatigue assessment.

Behavior of composite rigid frame bridge under bi-directional seismic excitations

Pushover analysis and time history analysis are conducted to explore the bi-directional seismic behavior of composite steel-concrete rigid frame bridge, which is composed of RC piers and steel-concrete composite girders. Both longitudinal and transverse directions excitations are investigated using OpenSees. Firstly, the applicability of pushover analysis based on the funda- mental mode is discussed. Secondly, an improved pushover analysis method considering the contribution of higher modes is proposed, and the applicability on composite rigid frame bridges under bi-directional earthquake is verified. Based on this method, an approach to predict the displacement responses of composite rigid frame bridge under random hi-directional seismic excitations by revising the elasto-plastic demand curve is also proposed. It is observed that the developed method yield a good estimate on the responses of composite rigid frame bridges under bi-directional seismic excitations.

Mechanical behavior of concrete-filled rectangular steel tubular composite truss bridge in the negative moment region

Concrete-filled rectangular steel tubular(CFRST)composite truss bridge is a new type of structure composed of a CFRST truss and concrete deck slab.This new type of bridge has the advantages of high structural force-transferring efficiency,rapid assembly construction speed and excellent total life cycle,which meets the construction concept of green,recyclable and sustainable development.Due to the broad application prospects,experiment on the flexural behavior of CFRST composite truss bridge in the negative moment region was reported by authors previously.This paper thus presents a finite element analysis(FEA)modelling verified by the reported test data to further investigate the detailed analytical behavior of this structure.The structural response and failure mechanism of CFRST composite truss beam in the negative moment region are studied.In addition,the important structural design parameters on the flexural performance of the CFRST composite truss beam are also investigated,including the height to span ratio,the brace-to-chord wall thickness ratio,the reinforcement ratio of steel reinforcements and prestressed tendons and the strength grade of concrete infill in chords.Finally,the reasonable structural design parameters range are proposed for the optimum design of the CFRST composite truss bridge.