Monitoring of a Swedish Integral Abutment Bridge
Abstract One of the most commonly discussed problems regarding bridges with integral abutments is the influence of longitudinal elongation of the superstructure as a result of seasonal temperature variations. A bridge built with integral abutments is often supported by a row of piles made of steel or concrete. The longitudinal elongation of the superstructure induces a displacement and a rotation at the top of the pile, which in turn may cause strains that exceeds the yield strain. Such seasonal variations may lead to low-cyclic fatigue failure in the pile. Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate the amplitude of these strains, as well as the general behaviour of the bridge. In 2005, the European R&D project, INTAB (RFSR-CT-2005-00041, “Economic and Durable Design of Bridges with Integral Abutments, 2005–2008”) was started. Within the INTAB project a composite bridge was built and monitored in Northern Sweden.
Finite element simulation of pile behaviour under thermo-mechanical loading in integral abutment bridges
To study the behaviour of piles in integral abutment bridges, under seasonal and daily thermal loading, a three-dimensional, nonlinear finite element model was constructed for a bridge. The model was parametrically run for five different bridge lengths that varied from 122 to 549 m. A sinusoidal model was used to represent the daily and seasonal temperature variations. The results showed that maximum lateral displacement of the piles occurs during the winter when the thermal contraction and the dead and live loads on the bridge produce displacements in the same direction. Maximum stress occurred in the pile furthest from the centre of the bridge and was found to be in the flange of the pile immediately below the concrete abutment. Plastic deformation was observed in all of the piles for all bridge lengths. The lateral displacement and maximum plastic deformation in piles increased as the length of the bridge increased. A linear relationship was found between the length of the bridge and the lateral displacements for both seasonal and daily temperature variations.
New technologies of steel/concrete composite bridges
Abstract Steel plates have high tensile strength but are relatively vulnerable against buckling caused by compressive forces. However, when steel plates are combined with concrete, the resistance against buckling increases and heavy stiffeners are not necessary, which makes steel bridges economical and competitive against concrete bridges. New structural forms of steel/concrete composite bridges have been actively sought and developed in Japan and several actual bridge projects have been presented in this paper. New ideas for the future steel/concrete composite bridges utilizing concrete filled steel girders are also introduced and proved to be feasible and economical by analyses, experiments and trial designs.