• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.525-530
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• 2007

Although just developed in recent years, curved box girder has widely used in modern highway system due to their load resistance capacity as well as aesthetic considerations. According to recent literature reviews on curved box girder designs, distortional load was not considered as much as it deserves to be. In practice, the effect of distributional force is very small in straight bridge systems but yet unknown how it is in curved bridge systems. For the reason, this paper will show up an extensive parametric study on distortional behavior of curved box girder with trapezoidal section. Based on Dabrowski formulas, using finite element method, various bridges were investigated. In this study, following parameters will be included: span length, curvature radius, section height, section width, and internal section angle (web slope). From the obtained results, some initial geometric parameters are proposed for curved box girder bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.255-267
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• 2021

The analysis of simply supported single-cell skew-curved reinforced concrete (RC) box-girder bridges is carried out using a finite element based CsiBridge software. The behaviour of skew-curved box-girder bridges can not be anticipated simply by superimposing the individual effects of skewness and curvature, so it becomes important to examine the behaviour of such bridges considering the combined effects of skewness and curvature. A comprehensive parametric study is performed wherein the combined influence of the skew and curve angles is considered to determine the maximum bending moment, maximum shear force, maximum torsional moment and maximum vertical deflection of the bridge girders. The skew angle is varied from 0° to 60° at an interval of 10°, and the curve angle is varied from 0° to 60° at an interval of 12°. The scantly available literature on such bridges focuses mainly on the analysis of skew-curved bridges under dead and point loads. But, the effects of actual loadings may be different, thus, it is considered in the present study. It is found that the performance of these bridges having more curvature can be improved by introducing the skewness. Finally, several equations are deduced in the non-dimensional form for estimating the forces and deflection in the girders of simply supported skew-curved RC box-girder bridges, based upon the results of the straight one. The developed equations may be helpful to the designers in proportioning, analysing, and designing such bridges, as the correlation coefficient is about 0.99.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.33-49
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• 1997

A method of analysis is proposed for curved multicell box girder grillages. The method can be used to analyze box girder grillages comprising straight and/or curved segments. Each segment can be modelled by a number of beam elements. Each element has three nodes and the nodal degrees of freedom (DOF) consist of the six DOF for a conventional beam plus DOF to account for torsional warping, distortion, distortional warping, and shear lag. This element is an extension of a straight element that was developed earlier. For a more realistic analysis of the intersection regions of non-colinear box girder segments, the concept of a rigid connector is introduced, and the compatibility requirements between adjoining elements in those regions are discussed. The results of the analysis showed good agreement with the shell finite element results, but the proposed method of analysis needs a fraction of the time and effort compared to the shell finite element analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.387-410
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• 2008

The fatigue damage accumulation rates of horizontally curved thin walled box-girder bridge have been estimated from vehicle-induced dynamic stress history using rain flow cycle counting method in the time domain approach. The curved box-girder bridge has been numerically modeled using computationally efficient thin walled box-beam finite elements, which take into account the important structural actions like torsional warping, distortion and distortional warping in addition to the conventional displacement and rotational degrees of freedom. Vehicle model includes heave-pitch-roll degrees of freedom with longitudinal and transverse input to the wheels. The bridge deck unevenness, which is taken as inputs to the vehicle wheels, has been assumed to be a realization of homogeneous random process specified by a power spectral density (PSD) function. The linear damage accumulation theory has been applied to calculate fatigue life. The fatigue life estimated by cycle counting method in time domain has been compared with those found by estimating the PSD of response in frequency domain. The frequency domain method uses an analytical expression involving spectral moment characteristics of stress process. The effects of some of the important parameters on fatigue life of the curved box bridge have been studied.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.185-191
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• 2002

In this study a 3-dimensional analytical model is developed, which can analyses dynamic responses of curved bridges subject to moving vehicles. A 5-axle semi-trailer is modeled to simulate the actual tire forces that are redistributed by vehicle rolling effect due to the centrifugal force. The 1-span curved bridge with two steel box girders is modeled using the frame elements. The dynamic response characteristics of curved box girder bridges are examined and compared for two different support conditions. One is the case that two shoes are arranged at the outer sides of box girders with larger space between the two shoes and the other is that two shoes at the center of each box girder. In the curved bridges, the dynamic effect of moving vehicles influences the reaction force much more than other responses, such as displacement or stress, especially the upward reaction of inner-radius shoes. It is more advantageous for the reaction considering dynamic effect when shoes are arranged further at the outer sides of box girders than when shoes at the center of each box. The shoes for curved bridges with two-box girder system should be arranged to have larger distance.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.423-434
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• 2001

In this paper, a three-span continuous box girder is analysed by using elastic equation based on energy method, concerning the behaviour with the effects of bending and pure torsional moment. The statically indeterminate forces of a three-span continuous curved box girder are calculated by applying the principle of least work to this elastic equation. The influence line of shear force, bending moment, pure torsion, displacement and angle of rotation due to unit vortical load and unit torque for curved box girder are obtained. The internal forces of the curved box girder which the actual load is applied can be calculated using the influence line obtained from this study.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.402-404
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• 2003

In case to look at considering affects of skew angles into the curved bridges, this study mainly focalized to compare and analyze of the influence of skew angles to curved bridges along with analysis of the behavior of entire construction in accordance with changes of skew angles and curvature. With explanation of macroscophic behavior of curved bridges with skew angles through this study, it is mostly to grasp with characteristics and structural weaknesses of skew curved bridges compared with straight skew bridges.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.02a
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• pp.297-302
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• 2007

Although just developed in recent years, curved box girder has widely used in modern highway system due to their load resistance capacity as well as aesthetic considerations. According to recent literature reviews on curved box girder designs, distortional load was not considered as much as it deserves to be. In practice, the effect of distortional force is very small in straight bridge systems but yet unknown how it is in curved bridge systems. For the reason, this paper will show an extensive parametric study on distortional behavior. Based on Dabrowski formulas, using finite element method, various bridges were investigated. In this study, following parameters will be included: span length, curvature radius, section height, section width, and internal section angle (web slope). From the obtained results, some initial geometric parameters are proposed for curved box girder bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.221-238
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• 2014

A four-noded curved shell finite element for the geometrically non-linear analysis of beams curved in plan is introduced. The structure is conceived as a sequence of macro-elements (ME) having the form of transversal segments of identical topology where each slice is formed using a number of the curved shell elements which have 7 degrees of freedom (DOF) per node. A curved box-girder beam example is modelled using various meshes and linear analysis results are compared to the solutions of a well-known computer program SAP2000. Linear and non-linear analyses of the beam under increasing uniformly distributed loads are also carried out. In addition to box-girder beams, the proposed element can also be used in modelling open-section beams with curved or straight axes and circular plates under radial compression. Buckling loads of a circular plate example are obtained for coarse and successively refined meshes and results are compared with each other. The advantage of this element is that curved systems can be realistically modelled and satisfactory results can be obtained even by using coarse meshes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1153-1179
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• 2015

This paper focuses on presenting modeling considerations and insight into the performance of typical straight, curved, and skewed box-girder bridges in California which form the bulk of the bridge inventory in the state. Three case study bridges are chosen: Meloland Road Overpass, Northwest Connector of Interstate 10/215 Interchange, and Painter Street Overpass, having straight, curved, and skewed superstructures, respectively. The efficacy of nonlinear dynamic analysis is established by comparing the response from analytical models to the recorded strong motion data. Finally insights are provided on the component behavioral characteristics and shift in vulnerability for each of the bridge types considered.