This study addresses the development of a prototype software system for analysis of horizontally curved steel I-girder bridges using open-section thin-walled beam theory. Recommendations are provided for the use of three-dimensional (3D) grid idealizations in analyzing curved I-girder bridge structural systems. The 3D grid idealizations account for the general displacements and rotations common within complex curved I-girder bridge structures, i.e., none of the displacement and rotational degrees-of-freedom are arbitrarily assumed to be equal to zero. Also, these idealizations account for the warping (or cross-bending) deformations of the I-girder flanges that dominate typical girder torsional responses. An approximate approach is investigated for capturing the influence of girder web distortion on composite I-girder responses.
A key focus of this research is the development of prototype methods for simulating the construction of curved steel I-girder bridges, including erection of the steel and staged casting of the slab. The resulting capabilities allow engineers to evaluate the deflections, reactions and/or stresses at different stages of the steel erection or concrete slab construction, determine required crane capacities, tie-down, jacking or come-along forces, and calculate incremental displacements due to removal of temporary supports. Also, the capabilities can be used to determine the influence of different steel detailing methods on the bridge geometry, such as the web plumbness under the steel or total dead load. Key requirements necessary to ensure accuracy of the analysis results are addressed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/11592 |
| Date | 10 July 2006 |
| Creators | Chang, Ching-Jen |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 13318386 bytes, application/pdf |
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