Safety evaluation of a vehicle–bridge interaction system using the pseudo-excitation method

A method for analysing the vehicle–bridge interaction system with enhanced objectivity is proposed in the paper, which considers the time-variant and random characteristics and allows finding the power spectral densities (PSDs) of the system responses directly from the PSD of track irregularity. The pseudo-excitation method is adopted in the proposed framework, where the vehicle is modelled as a rigid body and the bridge is modelled using the finite element method. The vertical and lateral wheel–rail pseudo-excitations are established assuming the wheel and rail have the same displacement and using the simplified Kalker creep theory, respectively. The power spectrum function of vehicle and bridge responses is calculated by history integral. Based on the dynamic responses from the deterministic and random analyses of the interaction system, and the probability density functions for three safety factors (derailment coefficient, wheel unloading rate, and lateral wheel axle force) are obtained, and the probabilities of the safety factors exceeding the given limits are calculated. The proposed method is validated by Monte Carlo simulations using a case study of a high-speed train running over a bridge with five simply supported spans and four piers.

Refined Vehicle-Bridge Interaction Analysis Using Incompatible Solid Finite Element for Evaluating Stresses and Impact Factors

The vehicle-bridge interaction can induce bridge vibration and consequently fatigue, durability deterioration, local damage, and even collapse of bridge structure. In this paper, a solid vehicle-bridge interaction (VBI) analysis method is developed to provide refined analysis on the bridge responses including displacement and local stress under vehicle loads. The incompatible solid finite element (FE) is introduced to model the bridge, where the element shear locking is alleviated by incompatible displacement modes without sacrificing the computational efficiency. Benchmark example shows the incompatible solid element has superior computational efficiency compared to the conventional solid element. By virtue of the mass-spring-damper vehicle model, the interaction between vehicle and bridge is simulated with point-to-point contact assumption and the coupled dynamic equations are solved via nonlinear iteration. A case study on a simply supported T-girder bridge is conducted to validate the developed solid VBI analysis method and then the dynamic impact factor (DIF) of the bridge is evaluated based on the computed stress results and compared to code values. Results show that the solid VBI analysis method yields more accurate time-history bridge responses including displacement and stress under moving vehicles than the grillage method despite higher computational cost. Particularly, it can simulate realistic stress distribution and concentration along any concerned sections as well as in local components, which can provide detail information on the bridge behavior under dynamic loads. On the other hand, the DIF based on the computed stress result generally agrees well with the code values except for heavy vehicles where the stress-based DIF is slightly higher than the value in Chinese code while lower than that of AASHTO, suggesting the value specified by Chinese code may underestimate the DIF of heavy vehicles in certain circumstances to which more attention should be paid.

Health monitoring of long span bridges and design verification with typhoon data

<p>Stonecutters Bridge is 1,018m main span cable stayed bridge in Hong Kong. The bridge incorporates a Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) for monitoring the environmental loading condition such as traffic, temperature, wind and earthquake as well as the structural responses of the bridge including deflections, strains and long-term change of the bridge. A very powerful typhoon called Mangkhut, with 1- minute sustained wind speed up to 285km/h (180mph), struck Hong Kong on September 16, 2018. The response of Stonecutters Bridge under the action of this typhoon and the site-specific typhoon data have been recorded by the WASHMS. This paper analyses the measurement data of the typhoon loading and the bridge responses to demonstrate the use of health monitoring system for long span bridges and to verify the design of the bridge by comparison of the wind loading condition and stress conditions in major structural components.</p>

Bridge Responses Induced by Adjacent Subway Station Construction Using Shallow Tunneling Method

This paper presents a case of subway station construction under an existing prestressed concrete bridge with a three-span continuous beam located at the intersection of the 3rd Ring Road, Beijing. The Huayuan Subway Station of line 6, constructed crossing between #7 and the #8 piers of the bridge by the shallow tunneling method, is approximately perpendicular to the existing Huayuan Bridge. The minimum horizontal distance between the pile foundation and the subway station is only 0.08 m. The “Pile-Beam-Arc” construction sequence was used to ensure the safety of both the subway station and the bridge. Moreover, a series of reinforcement measures were adopted to safeguard the project, including deep grouting reinforcement surrounding the pile foundation from ground surface, temporary inverted arch in the middle of No. 5 drift, and the lateral steel support. Even though some cracks were observed on the bridge deck surface by the on-site deformation monitoring, the results were still within the proposed control standard. To prevent the further development of the cracks, jacking protection measure and bonded steel constructed under the box girder were performed. The related measures proposed in this research can provide useful references for future similar projects.

Reduction of Vehicle-Induced Vibration of Railway Bridges due to Distribution of Axle Loads through Track

Short span railway bridges are prone to resonate caused by dynamic train axle loads, which were usually modeled as moving point loads on the bridge in many numerical studies. In reality, the axle weight of the train is a spread load for the bridge deck because of the transfer of the track structure. Previous numerical studies indicated that the spread axle load distributed through the track structure significantly reduces bridge responses compared to the point load model. In this study, the reduction effect is investigated analytically by solving the moving load problem for both the point load and the spread load cases. The analytical solution reveals that bridge responses from the spread load model can be obtained by filtering bridge responses from the point load model. The filter function is exactly the Fourier transform (FT) of the load spreading function. Based on this relationship, a reduction coefficient reflecting the load spreading effect on bridge responses is derived. Through numerical examples, the accuracy of this proposed reduction coefficient is validated not only for the moving load models but also for vehicle-bridge interaction (VBI) problems.

Impact of Hydrodynamic Interaction Between Pontoons on Global Responses of a Long Floating Bridge Under Wind Waves

The hydrodynamic interaction between floating bridge pontoons and its impact on the bridge global responses are investigated in the current study. The global model for end-anchored floating bridge for Bjørnefjord crossing is modelled in ORCINA-OrcaFlex. Forty-six pontoons are used to support the bridge, with a centerline distance of 100m between two pontoons. Two models are setup for comparison: (1) The OrcaFlex model with hydrodynamic coefficients of pontoons without hydrodynamic interaction; (2) The OrcaFlex model with hydrodynamic interaction coefficients, which were calculated by ANSYS-AQWA. Firstly, a case study of hydrodynamic interaction effects on added mass, potential damping and diffraction force is given, showing that the piston and sloshing modes have strong correlation with the resonances. Then two sea states were run on the two models with and without hydrodynamic interaction effects. The first order wave effects are included in the analysis. The observed extremes of the time-domain bridge girder bending moments and motions were compared between two models. The comparison shows both reduction and increase of bridge responses depending on the wave directions. A sensitivity test of drag coefficients applied on the pontoon vertical motion is carried out as a rough examination of the neglected viscous damping on the hydrodynamic resonances. The viscous damping effects on the resonances should be further quantified.

Evaluation of bridge support condition using bridge responses

This article presents a method for evaluating the support condition of bridges. This is done by representing the aging and deteriorated supports as rotation springs with equivalent spring constants. Sensitivity analysis was performed to obtain a relationship between the spring constant and the bridge responses (deflections/slopes). From this relationship, measured bridge responses can be used to estimate the equivalent spring constants through interpolation. Numerical analysis was performed to check whether the method can be used to calculate equivalent spring constants. Then, the method was verified by performing laboratory tests on a scale model bridge and field test on an actual bridge. In both tests, spring constants were estimated using the proposed method and then verified by calculating the displacements and frequencies and comparing them to the measured values.