Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder

In steel girder bridges, fracture of one girder may occur without noticeable bridge profile changes. It is critical to ensure that the bridge will have adequate capacity to prevent collapse until the next cycle of inspection discovers the damage. It is realized that once one of the bridge girders is...

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Main Authors: Mohammad Abedin, Armin B. Mehrabi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
Series:Infrastructures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/5/4/32
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author Mohammad Abedin
Armin B. Mehrabi
author_facet Mohammad Abedin
Armin B. Mehrabi
author_sort Mohammad Abedin
collection DOAJ
description In steel girder bridges, fracture of one girder may occur without noticeable bridge profile changes. It is critical to ensure that the bridge will have adequate capacity to prevent collapse until the next cycle of inspection discovers the damage. It is realized that once one of the bridge girders is fractured, vertical loads need to be distributed through an alternative path to the intact girder(s). In this case, cross-frames can play an important role in transferring the loads and preventing from sudden collapse. This paper investigates the impact of cross-frames on load distribution after a fracture is occurred in one girder. Bridge configurations with different cross-frame spacing were studied using finite element modeling and simulation of the bridge behavior with a fractured steel plate girder. Nonlinear and dynamic solution methods were used for these analyses. Results of this investigation demonstrated the important role cross-frames can play in providing some reserved capacity for the bridge with fractured girder to enhance the bridge redundancy. The contribution of the cross-frames and the behavior of the bridge after fracture in one girder however depends on the configuration of the bridge. A study of the variation of the effect of cross-frames with respect to the number of girders is also included in this paper.
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spelling doaj.art-591efd5b6d3e4207a6e5e52d983a3c992023-11-19T20:23:48ZengMDPI AGInfrastructures2412-38112020-04-01543210.3390/infrastructures5040032Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured GirderMohammad Abedin0Armin B. Mehrabi1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33174, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33174, USAIn steel girder bridges, fracture of one girder may occur without noticeable bridge profile changes. It is critical to ensure that the bridge will have adequate capacity to prevent collapse until the next cycle of inspection discovers the damage. It is realized that once one of the bridge girders is fractured, vertical loads need to be distributed through an alternative path to the intact girder(s). In this case, cross-frames can play an important role in transferring the loads and preventing from sudden collapse. This paper investigates the impact of cross-frames on load distribution after a fracture is occurred in one girder. Bridge configurations with different cross-frame spacing were studied using finite element modeling and simulation of the bridge behavior with a fractured steel plate girder. Nonlinear and dynamic solution methods were used for these analyses. Results of this investigation demonstrated the important role cross-frames can play in providing some reserved capacity for the bridge with fractured girder to enhance the bridge redundancy. The contribution of the cross-frames and the behavior of the bridge after fracture in one girder however depends on the configuration of the bridge. A study of the variation of the effect of cross-frames with respect to the number of girders is also included in this paper.https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/5/4/32steel bridgesfracturecross-frameredundancy evaluationload distributionfinite element analysis
spellingShingle Mohammad Abedin
Armin B. Mehrabi
Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder
Infrastructures
steel bridges
fracture
cross-frame
redundancy evaluation
load distribution
finite element analysis
title Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder
title_full Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder
title_fullStr Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder
title_short Effect of Cross-Frames on Load Distribution of Steel Bridges with Fractured Girder
title_sort effect of cross frames on load distribution of steel bridges with fractured girder
topic steel bridges
fracture
cross-frame
redundancy evaluation
load distribution
finite element analysis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/5/4/32
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammadabedin effectofcrossframesonloaddistributionofsteelbridgeswithfracturedgirder
AT arminbmehrabi effectofcrossframesonloaddistributionofsteelbridgeswithfracturedgirder