• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 1999

With the advent of computer, the finite element method has become a most powerful numerical method for structural analysis. However, bridge designers are reluctant to use it in their designs because of its complex nature and its being time consuming in the preparation of the input data and analyzing the results. This paper describes the development of a computer based finite element model using the idea of eccentric beam elements for the analysis of slab-on-girder bridges. The proposed method is supported by a laboratory test using a reinforced concrete bridge model. Other bridge analytical schemes are also introduced and compared with the proposed method. The main aim of the comparison is to prove the effectiveness of the shell and eccentric beam modelling in the studies of lateral load distribution of slab-on-girder bridges. It is concluded that the proposed finite element method gives a closer to real idealization and its developed computer program, SHECAN, is also very simple to use. It is highly recommended to use it as an analytical tool for the design of slab-on-girder bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.257-289
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• 2015

Shear connectors are generally used to link the slab and girders together in slab-on-girder bridge structures. Damage of shear connectors in such structures will result in shear slippage between the slab and girders, which significantly reduces the load-carrying capacity of the bridge. Because shear connectors are buried inside the structure, routine visual inspection is not able to detect conditions of shear connectors. A few methods have been proposed in the literature to detect the condition of shear connectors based on vibration measurements. This paper proposes a different dynamic condition assessment approach to identify the damage of shear connectors in slab-on-girder bridge structures based on power spectral density transmissibility (PSDT). PSDT formulates the relationship between the auto-spectral densities of two responses in the frequency domain. It can be used to identify shear connector conditions with or without reference data of the undamaged structure (or the baseline). Measured impact force and acceleration responses from hammer tests are analyzed to obtain the frequency response functions at sensor locations by experimental modal analysis. PSDT from the slab response to the girder response is derived with the obtained frequency response functions. PSDT vectors in the undamaged and damaged states can be compared to identify the damage of shear connectors. When the baseline is not available, as in most practical cases, PSDT vectors from the measured response at a reference sensor to those of the slab and girder in the damaged state can be used to detect the damage of shear connectors. Numerical and experimental studies on a concrete slab supported by two steel girders are conducted to investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach. Identification results demonstrate that damages of shear connectors are identified accurately and efficiently with and without the baseline. The proposed method is also used to evaluate the conditions of shear connectors in a real composite bridge with in-field testing data.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.1171-1176
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• 2005

The latest technical development of steel plate girder railway bridge are developing in ways to maximize its durability of materials in use of high strength steel and efficiency of maintenance and management by the introduction of simplified and standardization ideas. In addition to this, it is also expected to reduce the cost of bridge construction and to simplify the process of bridge manufacturing. Referring to this, composite few plate girder railway bridge is highly recommendable that is very economical with the fine exterior. In this paper, it will analyse the variation of dynamic behavior of existing composite few plate girder railway bridge with ballast caused by modified Slab Track through interpretation of limited enzyme in order to obtain the existing data for improvement of Slab Track system from Ballast Track system. Consequently, it can help maximize economic efficiency and structural capability. As a results, although the natural frequency by modified Slab Track are decreased, it is hardly influencing on the safety of railway bridges. It is also evident in the case of slab deck with a reduced scale in comparison with Ballast Track. Therefore, it is expected to reduce the cost of a railway bridge plan. And, it can expect the synergistic effect of the ensure long term durability of bridge caused by decreased stresses of bottom flange due to reduced dead load. As a result, the analytical study are carried out to investigate the composite few plate girder railway bridge could be the optimal design method for the dynamic safety of a girder section.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.754-757
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• 2004

This study was performed to propose design bending moment formula for long-span slab on a composite two-girder bridge. FEM models representing slab spaning between 4m and 12m were analyzed, and parameters such as girder flexibility and orthotropy of slab were considered. By regression of the parametric analyses results, the moment formula that can predict the design moment with reasonable margin of safety and correctness was developed. The research also showed that the design bending moment from Korean Bridge Design Code overestimated the design moment for the span length under gm, and underestimated for the span length over 9m.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.697-706
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• 2011

There are more than 800 railway steel plate girder bridges which are in use and the total length is approximately 50 km. Among these, it shall be pointed out that non-ballast rail systems which lay on wood sleepers are the most critical members. To strengthen this type of structures, mainly two methods have been applied. The first one is the most typical method which is to replace the girders with slab girder system or steel composite girders and to add ballast. It is not uncommon that the construction cost of substructure is more than ten time higher than that of superstructures and even in this case, the structural uncertainty for the substructures is not diminished. To resolve above mentioned problems, new method was developed to rehabilitate railway steel girder bridge by adding PC-slab using transport equipment. Using this method, substructure strengthen is rarely required because the additional weight to the bridge superstructure is only up to 1.0t/m. Also it was possible to save the construction cost by reducing construction duration and by simplifying the construction process. Experimental construction was performed for Jewon bridge and measurements were performed before and after construction to verify the bridge capacity.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.379-386
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• 2002

The objective of this study is to investigate the seismic demand on the isolated slab-on-steel girder bridge under cold climate conditions. To this end comparative test results are presented of laminated elastomeric and lead-rubber seismic isolators in warm and cold temperature conditions. At extremely cold temperatures, rubber "glass-harden" and as a result rubber bearings that may be used for seating bridges behave in a significantly non-linear fashion. From the nonlinear time history analysis of the isolated slab-on-steel girder bridge, larger forces are transferred to the substructures. however smaller displacement at superstructure is obtained under cold climate conditions. These phenomenons might need to be considered in design stage of the seismically isolated bridges.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.1300-1309
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• 2010

In the railway bridges, steel plate girder types are preferred due the high stability. Nevertheless, it has been pointed out that this type of bridge has problems such as, structural damages in the rail and girder seat, noise problem due to impact at the rail joint and excessive vibration. This vibration and/or deflection are mainly because insufficient stiffness of steel plate type of bridge. To resolve these problems, PC-Slab composite plate girder type which has simple process and economic cost, is proposed in this study. The static and dynamic experiment is performed by using the production of actual sized PC-Slab and abandoned steel plate girder. The object of this experiment is to verify the fact that girder stiffness increase and structural safety. The result of the experiment is used to analyze the effect of performance improvement of PC composite plate girder type. Using this method, economic rail maintainers, girder stiffness increase, and also speed/ride improvement even for existing rail could be expected by dynamic performance improvement. Additionally noise due to impact, deflection and vibration caused from long rails can be reduced.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.371-384
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• 2020

The steel-concrete double composite girder in the negative flexural region combines an additional concrete slab to the steel bottom flange to prevent the local steel buckling, however, the additional concrete slab may lower down the neutral axis of the composite section, which is a sensitive factor to the tensile stress restraint on the concrete deck. This is actually of great importance to the structural rationality and durability, but has not been investigated in detail yet. In this case, a series of 5.5 m-long composite girder specimens were tested by negative bending, among which the bottom slab configuration and the longitudinal reinforcement ratio in the concrete deck were the parameters. Furthermore, an analytical study concerning about the influence of bottom concrete slab thickness on the cracking and sectional bending-carrying capacity were carried out. The test results showed that the additional concrete at the bottom improved the composite sectional bending stiffness and bending-carrying capacity, whereas its effect on the concrete crack distribution was not obvious. According to the analytical study, the additional concrete slab at the bottom with an equivalent thickness to the concrete deck slab may provide the best contributions to the improvements of crack initiation bending moment and the sectional bending-carrying capacity. This can be applied for the design practice.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.259-269
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• 2005

Many slab-on-girder bridges around the world are being assessed because they are approaching the end of their anticipated design lives or codes are permitting higher allowable loads. Current analytical techniques assume that the concrete and steel components act independently, typically requiring full-scale load testing to more accurately predict the remaining strength or endurance of the structure. However, many of the load tests carried out on these types of bridges would be unnecessary if the degree of interaction resulting from friction at the steel-concrete interface could be adequately modeled. Experimental testing confirmed that interface friction has a negligible effect on the flexural capacity of a slab-on-girder beam however, it also showed that interface friction is significant under serviceability loading. This has led to the development of an improved analytical technique which is presented in this paper and referred to as the slab-on-girder mixed analysis service load assessment approach.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.241-256
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• 2015

Channel girder bridges that consist of a deck slab and two side beams are good choices for railway bridges and urban rail transit bridges when the vertical clearance beneath the bridge is restricted. In this study, the behavior of simply supported channel girder bridges was theoretical studied based on the theory of elasticity. The accuracy of the theoretical solutions was verified by the finite element analysis. The global bending of the channel girder and the local bending of the deck slab are two contributors to the deformations and stresses of the channel girder. Because of the shear lag effect, the maximum deflection due to the global bending could be amplified by 1.0 to 1.2 times, and the effective width of the deck slab for determining the global bending stresses can be as small as 0.7 of the actual width depending on the width-to-span ratio of the channel girder. The maximum deflection and transversal stress due to the local bending are obtained at the girder ends. For the channel girders with open section side beams, the side beam twist has a negligible effect on the deflections and stresses of the channel girder. Simplified equations were also developed for calculating the maximum deformations and stresses.