Dynamic Analysis of A Pontoon-Separated Floating Bridge Subjected to A Moving Load

For the design and operation of a floating bridge, the understanding of its dynamic behavior under a moving load is of great importance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic performances of a new type floating bridge, the pontoon-separated floating bridge, under the effect of a moving load. In the paper, a brief summary of the dynamic analysis of the floating bridge is first introduced. The motion equations for a pontoon-separated floating bridge, considering the nonlinear properties of connectors and vehicles＇ inertia effects, are proposed. The super-element method is applied to reduce the numerical analysis scale to solve the reduced equations. Based on the static analysis, the dynamic features of the new type floating bridge subjected to a moving load are investigated. It is found that the dynamie behavior of the pontoon-separated floating bridge is superior to that of the ribbon bridge by taking the nonlinearity of eonneetors into account.

An Improved Time Domain Approach for Analysis of Floating Bridges Based on Dynamic Finite Element Method and State-Space Model

The floating bridge bears the dead weight and live load with buoyancy,and has wide application prospect in deep-water transportation infrastructure.The structural analysis of floating bridge is challenging due to the complicated fluid-solid coupling effects of wind and wave.In this research,a novel time domain approach combining dynamic finite element method and state-space model(SSM)is established for the refined analysis of floating bridges.The dynamic coupled effects induced by wave excitation load,radiation load and buffeting load are carefully simulated.High-precision fitted SSMs for pontoons are established to enhance the calculation efficiency of hydrodynamic radiation forces in time domain.The dispersion relation is also introduced in the analysis model to appropriately consider the phase differences of wave loads on pontoons.The proposed approach is then employed to simulate the dynamic responses of a scaled floating bridge model which has been tested under real wind and wave loads in laboratory.The numerical results are found to agree well with the test data regarding the structural responses of floating bridge under the considered environmental conditions.The proposed time domain approach is considered to be accurate and effective in simulating the structural behaviors of floating bridge under typical environmental conditions.

ANALYTICAL MODELS OF FLOATING BRIDGES SUBJECTED BY MOVING LOADS FOR DIFFERENT WATER DEPTHS

There are two types of floating bridge such as discrete-pontoon floating bridges and continuous-pontoon floating bridges. Analytical models of both floating bridges subjected by raoving loads are presented to study the dynamic responses with hydrodynamic influence coefficients for different water depths. The beam theory and potential theory are introduced to produce the models. The hydrodynamic coefficients and dynamic responses of bridges are evaluated by the boundary element method and by the Galerkin method of weighted residuals, respectively. Considering causal relationship between the frequencies of the oscillation of floating bridges and the added mass coefficients, an iteration method is introduced to compute hydrodynamic frequencies. The results indicate that water depth has little influence upon the dynamic responses of both types of floating bridges, so that the effect of water depth can be neglected during the course of designing floating bridges.

Analytical investigation of bidirectional ductile diaphragms in multi-span bridges

In the AASHTO Guide Specifications for Seismic Bridge Design Provisions,ductile diaphragms are identified as Permissible Earthquake-Resisting Elements（EREs）,designed to help resist seismic loads applied in the transverse direction of bridges.When adding longitudinal ductile diaphragms,a bidirectional ductile diaphragm system is created that can address seismic excitations acting along both the bridge’s longitudinal and transverse axes.This paper investigates bidirectional ductile diaphragms with Buckling Restrained Braces（BRBs）in straight multi-span bridge with simply supported floating spans.The flexibility of the substructures in the transverse and longitudinal direction of the bridge is considered.Design procedures for the bidirectional ductile diaphragms are first proposed.An analytical model of the example bridge with bidirectional ductile diaphragms,designed based on the proposed methodology,is then built in SAP2000.Pushover and nonlinear time history analyses are performed on the bridge model,and corresponding results are presented.The effect of changing the longitudinal stiffness of the bidirectional ductile diaphragms in the end spans connecting to the abutment is also investigated,in order to better understand the impact on the bridge’s dynamic performance.