Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
6
Examples of Finite Element
Models of Steel Bridges
6.1 GENERAL REMARKS
Chapters 1-4
have provided the necessary background regarding the general
layout, loading, and design of steel and steel-concrete composite bridges. On
the other hand,
Chapter 5
has provided the required background regarding
the issues related to finite element modeling of the bridges. Therefore, it is
now possible in this chapter to present examples of finite element models for
steel bridges based on the background of finite element analysis detailed in
Chapter 5
. This chapter presents illustrative examples of finite element
models developed to understand the structural behavior of steel bridges.
The chapter starts by a brief introduction and a review of recent investiga-
tions reported in the literature concerning the modeling of steel bridges. The
chapter details how the finite element models were developed and the results
obtained. The presented examples show the effectiveness of finite element
models in providing detailed data that complement experimental data in the
field. The results are discussed to show the significance of the finite element
models in predicting the structural response of the different bridges investi-
gated. In overall, it is aimed to show that finite element analysis not only can
assess the accuracy of the design rules specified in current codes of practice
but also can improve and propose more accurate design rules. The author
hopes that the review of recent finite element models reported in the liter-
ature together with the illustrative finite element models developed by the
author in this chapter can provide readers with a complete piece of work
regarding the finite element analysis of steel bridges.
6.2 PREVIOUS WORK
Numerous numerical investigations were reported in the literature
highlighting the structural performance of different types of steel bridges
subjected to different loadings. The numerical investigations proposed finite
element models for the bridges and the bridge components. It should be
noted that detailed state-of-the-art review of these investigations is out of
the scope of this topic. However, in this section, the author provides recent
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