CURVATURE MATTERS: UNRAVELING THE EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE OF BOX-GIRDER BRIDGES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36773/1818-1112-2025-138-3-63-74Keywords:
curved cellular bridges, seismic response, panel element method, finite element method, box girder, box-girder bridgesAbstract
The paper proposes a simpler technique for producing an idealization of curved box-girder type bridge decking under dynamic stresses produced by earthquake related excitation. The analysis focuses on two types of bridge decks with curved cellular structures, examining both single-cell and multiple-cell configurations. This approach may be used to rectangular and trapezoidal box-girder sections with both equal and unequal dimensions of cells. The proposed element “Panel Element (PE)” is coded as Component Element (CE) and has proved to be capable of modeling a full plane panel of a curved cellular deck in its three-dimensional behavior by one element only. For verification purpose and to demonstrate the range of applicability of the new idealization technique, a comparative study was made with the Finite Element Method (FEM), as a standard procedure, used to idealize the box-girder bridge decks. Different configurations of curved box-girder bridge decks are considered to provide a thorough understanding of the dynamic behavior of the curved bridge deck when acted upon by earthquake-based excitation besides the validation purposes. A computer program using (MATLAB R2012b) is specially written using the proposed algorithm of the new idealization technique to evaluate the earthquake analysis results. Comparison was made with those evaluated by the finite element approach using the ready software (ANSYS 12.0) to check the adequacy and suitability of the proposed element in analyzing the box-girder concrete bridge decks. The results showed that the Panel Element Method (PEM) has proved to be valid in estimating the earthquake response for both cases of single and double cell bridge decks, for all the ranges of the aspect ratios; the results obtained by the Panel Element Method (PEM) are acceptable, with an error of less than (12 %) in deflection and less than (18 %) in moments and shear forces for the cases of very large aspect ratios. This research demonstrates the validity of the proposed method "Panel Element Method (PEM)" with wide range of applicability for the dynamic behaviors of free and forced vibration response analysis and the approximate earthquake response analysis of the curved box-girder type of bridge decks of different configurations.
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