Model for the assessment of safety and serviceability of concrete bridges

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2002

Authors

António Abel Henriques (Author) FEUP; Joaquim Figueiras (Author) FEUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management

Pages: 298-299

First International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management

Barcelona, Espanha, 14 a 17 de Julho de 2002

Other information

Abstract (EN): The deterioration of concrete structures during their lifetime is a matter of great concern for those involved in their design, construction, operation and maintenance. The safety requirements must be assumed for the lifetime of the structures, taking into account the variability, in space and in time, of the parameters involved in the process. Among the various aspects concerning to the assessment of bridges those referred to safety and serviceability are emphasized. This paper aims to illustrate the potentiality of the computer-based procedure to assess the safety and serviceability of concrete bridges. It is important to include this type of tool in comprehensive bridge management procedure. The required maintenance can only be rationally defined on a risk-based analysis wherein all the available data can be adequately included in the assessment methodology. The method presented in this paper is based on a probabilistic approach wherein the material characteristics, geometric imperfections and loads are simulated by stochastic techniques. The structural response is given by a refined elasto-visco plastic formulation based on the finite element techniques, where non-linear constitutive relationships and time dependent effects are considered by an incremental-iterative model. Statistical techniques are applied to perform a sensitivity analysis for interpreting the effects of parameter variability on the global structural behavior and to quantify the risk of failure. The application of this model to a practical example is presented to illustrate the potentialities of the computational code.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 2