Dynamic analysis for fatigue safety examination of existing short span concrete railway bridges

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2008

Authors

Mário Jorge Pimentel (Author) FEUP; Figueiras, J (Author) Other; Brühwiler, E (Author) Other

Conference proceedings International

Title: 7th European Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2008

7th European Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2008

7 July 2008 through 9 July 2008

Indexing

Scopus - 2 Citations

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Technological sciences > Engineering > Civil engineering > Structural engineering

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00K-8S6

Abstract (EN): In a previous work by the authors, it was shown that, in a scenario of increasing maximum axle loads, the fatigue life of short span railway reinforced concrete bridges is drastically reduced. In view of the great sensitiveness of the fatigue life to some simplified assumptions usually adopted in the fatigue safety verification procedure, more detailed analysis methods will certainly be very effective to prove the required fatigue safety of existing structures. This communication focuses on the dynamic effects of heavy railway traffic on short span bridges. A dynamic analysis model considering the interaction between the train and the bridge is presented. The model uses a fully coupled formulation of the bridge/vehicle equilibrium equations, avoiding iterative schemes at each time step. For maximum efficiency, the modal decomposition technique in conjunction with a quasi-static correction procedure is used to calculate the bridge dynamic response. It is shown that the dynamic amplification factor proposed in the current design codes can be conservative in the case of short span ballasted concrete bridges. The effect of the increasing train mass on the dynamic amplification factor is discussed and it is shown that the dynamic amplification tends to decrease with increasing axle loads.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific