• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.809-821
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• 2014

The truss based steel bridge structures usually consists of gusset plates which lose their load carrying capacity and rigidity under the effect of repeated and dynamics loads. This paper is focused on modeling the nonlinear material behavior of the gusset plates of the Truss Based Bridges subjected to dynamics loads. The nonlinear behavior of material is characterized by a damage coupled elsto-plastic material models. A truss bridge finite element model is established in Abaqus with the details of the gusset plates and their connections. The nonlinear finite element analyses are performed to calculate stress and strain states in the gusset plates under different loading conditions. The study indicates that damage initiation occurred in the plastic deformation localized region of the gusset plates where all, diagonal, horizontal and vertical, truss member met and are critical for shear type of failure due tension and compression interaction. These findings are agreed with the analytical and experimental results obtained for the stress distribution of this kind gusset plate.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.699-709
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• 2018

With increasing traffic volumes and rising vehicle traffic, especially in cities, the number of pedestrian bridges has also increased significantly. Like all other structures, pedestrian bridges also suffer damage. In order to increase the safety of pedestrians, it is necessary to identify existing damage and to repair them to ensure the safety of the bridge structures. Owing to the shortcomings of local methods in identifying damage and in order to enhance the reliability of detection and identification of structural faults, signal methods have seen significant development in recent years. In this research, a new methodology, based on cone-shaped kernel distribution with a new damage index, has been used for damage detection in pedestrian truss bridges. To evaluate the proposed method, the numerical models of the Warren Type steel truss and the Arregar steel footbridge were used. Based on the results, the proposed method and damage index identified the damage and determined its location with a high degree of precision. Given the ease of use, the proposed method can be used to identify faults in pedestrian bridges.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.189-198
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• 2019

This paper aims to study the mechanical performance of three-tower four-span suspension bridges with steel truss girders, including the static and dynamic characteristics of the bridge system, and more importantly, the influence of structural parameters including the side-main span ratio, sag-to-span ratio and the girder stiffness on key mechanical indices. For this purpose, the Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge which is a three-tower four-span suspension bridge with two main spans of 800m under construction in China is taken as an example in this study. This will be the first three-tower suspension bridge with steel truss girders in the world. The mechanical performance study and parametric analysis are conducted based on a validated three-dimensional spatial truss finite element model established for the Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge using MIDAS Civil. It is found that a relatively small side-main span ratio seems to be quite appropriate from the perspective of mechanical performance. And decreasing the sag-to-span ratio is an effective way to reduce the horizontal force subjected to the midtower and improve the antiskid safety of the main cable, while the vertical stiffness of the bridge will be reduced. However, the girder stiffness is shown to be of minimal significance on the mechanical performance. The findings from this paper can be used for design of three-tower suspension bridges with steel truss girders.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.323-336
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• 2022

Steel truss bridge is one of the most widely used bridge types in Indonesia. Out of all Indonesia's national roads, the number of steel truss bridges reaches 12% of the total 17,160 bridges. The application of steel truss bridges is relatively high considering this type of bridge provides advantages in the standardization of design and fabrication of structural elements for typical bridge spans, as well as ease of mobilization. Directorate of Road and Bridge Engineering, Ministry of Works and Housing, has issued a standard design for steel truss bridges commonly used in Indonesia, which is designed against the design load in SNI 1725-2016 Bridge Loading Standards. Along with the development of actual traffic load measurement technology using Bridge Weigh-in-Motion (B-WIM), traffic loading data can be utilized to evaluate the reliability of standard bridges, such as standard steel truss bridges which are commonly used in Indonesia. The result of the B-WIM measurement on the Central Java Pantura National Road, Batang - Kendal undertaken in 2018, which supports the heaviest load and traffic conditions on the national road, is used in this study. In this study, simulation of a sequences of traffic was carried out based on B-WIM data as a moving load on the Australian type Steel Truss Bridge (i.e., Rangka Baja Australia -RBA) structure model with 60 m class A span. The reliability evaluation was then carried out by calculating the reliability index or the probability of structural failure. Based on the analysis conducted in this study, it was found that the reliability index of the 60 m class Aspan for RBA bridge is 3.04 or the probability of structural failure is 1.18 × 10^-3, which describes the level of reliability of the RBA bridge structure due to the loads from B-WIM measurement in Indonesia. For this RBA Bridge 60 m span class A, it was found that the calibrated nominal live load that met the target reliability is increased by 13% than stated in the code, so the uniform distributed load will be 7.60 kN/m² and the axle line equivalent load will be 55.15 kN/m.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2024

Analytical methods for assessment of the out-of-plane buckling of unbraced top chords of truss bridges may look obsolete while comparing them to finite element analysis. However they are, usually, superior when rapid assessment is necessary. Analytical methods consider the top chord as a bar on elastic supports provided by bracing (Holt, Timoshenko). Correct assessment of the support elasticity (stiffness) is crucial. In the case of truss bridge spans of traditional structural layout (cross-beams at the truss chord nodes only), the elasticity may be set based on the analysis of the, so called, U-frame stiffness. Here the analyses consider the U-frame itself (a pair of verticals and a cross-beam) or the U-frame with adjacent diagonals or the pair of diagonals (in the absence of verticals) and the members of the bottom chord in the adjacent panels. For all the cases, the stability analysis of the chord as a bar in compression is necessary. Unfortunately, the method cannot be applied to contemporary truss bridges without verticals, that usually have independent cross-beam decks (the cross-beams attached to truss chords at their nodes and between them). This is the motivation for the analysis resulting in the method of setting the stiffness of the equivalent U-frame for the aforementioned truss bridges. Truss girders of both, gussetless and gusseted, joints are taken into account.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.684-689
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• 2002

This paper represents the life-cycle cost(LCC) of steel bridges which are located on the train-network. Corrosion problems are mainly considered in the steel members such as steel plate girder, box girder, truss and arch. Based on the current value, initial construction cost, maintenance cost and demolition cost are calculated and life-cycle costs are formulated for the several types of bridges. From the comparison on each LCC, an effective painting method is recommended for reducing the LCC of steel bridges. Even though the initial cost of Super Weather Resistance Heavy Duty Paintings (Resin Fluoride) is expensive, because of the long endurance, the LCC of steel bridges painted with Super Weather Resistance Heavy Duty Paintings (Resin Fluoride) is less than that painted with General Heavy Duty (Rubber Chloride).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.6
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• pp.641-649
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• 2020

The determination of midtower longitudinal stiffness has become an essential component in the preliminary design of multi-tower suspension bridges. For a specific multi-tower suspension bridge, the midtower longitudinal stiffness must be controlled within a certain range to meet the requirements of sliding resistance coefficient and deflection-to-span ratio. This study presents a numerical method to divide different types of midtower and determine rational range of longitudinal stiffness for rigid midtower. In this method, influence curves of midtower longitudinal stiffness on sliding resistance coefficient and maximum vertical deflection-to-span ratio are first obtained from the finite element analysis. Then, different types of midtower are divided based on the regression analysis of influence curves. Finally, rational range for longitudinal stiffness of rigid midtower is derived. The Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge which is a three-tower four-span suspension bridge with two main spans of 800m under construction in China is selected as the subject of this study. This will be the first three-tower four-span suspension bridge with steel truss girders and concrete midtower in the world. The proposed method provides an effective and feasible tool for engineers to design midtower of multi-tower suspension bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.501-523
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• 2016

Electromechanical impedance (EMI) based structural health monitoring is performed by measuring the variation in the impedance due to the structural local damage. The impedance signals are acquired from the piezoelectric patches that are bonded on the structural surface. The impedance variation, which is directly related to the mechanical properties of the structure, indicates the presence of local structural damage. Two traditional EMI-based damage detection methods are based on calculating the difference between the measured impedance signals in the frequency domain from the baseline and the current structures. In this paper, a new structural damage detection approach by analyzing the time domain impedance responses is proposed. The measured time domain responses from the piezoelectric transducers will be used for analysis. With the use of the Time Frequency Autoregressive Moving Average (TFARMA) model, a damage index based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is defined to identify the existence of the structural local damage. Experimental studies on a space steel truss bridge model in the laboratory are conducted to verify the proposed approach. Four piezoelectric transducers are attached at different locations and excited by a sweep-frequency signal. The impedance responses at different locations are analyzed with TFARMA model to investigate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed approach. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach is very sensitive and robust in detecting the bolt damage in the gusset plates of steel truss bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.585-599
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• 2023

Field monitoring techniques offer an attractive approach for understanding bridge behavior under in-service loads. However, the investigations on bridge behavior under high-speed train load using field monitoring data are limited. The focus of this study is to explore the structural behavior of an in-service long-span steel truss arch bridge based on field monitoring data. First, the natural frequencies of the structure, as well as the train driving frequencies, are extracted. Then, the train-induced bearing displacement and structural strain are explored to identify the effects of train loads and bearings. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis is performed for the impact factor of strain responses with respect to the train speed, train weight, and temperature to identify the fundamental issues affecting these responses. Additionally, a similar sensitivity analysis is conducted for the peak acceleration. The results indicate that the friction force in bearings provides residual deformations when two consecutive trains are in opposite directions. In addition, the impact factor and peak acceleration are primarily affected by train speed, particularly near train speeds that result in the resonance of the bridge response. The results can provide additional insight into the behavior of the long-span steel truss bridges under in-service high-speed train loads.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.13-27
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• 2011

This paper presents an investigation of the structural stability of cable-stayed bridges, using geometric nonlinear finite-element analysis and considering various geometric nonlinearities, such as the sag effect of the cables, the beam-column effect of the girder and mast, and the large displacement effect. In this analytic research, a nonlinear frame element and a nonlinear equivalent truss element were used to model the girder, mast, and cable member. The live-load cases that were considered in this research were assumed based on the traffic loads. To perform reasonable analytic research, initial shape analyses in the dead-load case were performed before live-load analysis. In this study, the geometric nonlinear responses of the cable-stayed bridges with different cable arrangement types were compared. After that, parametric studies on the characteristics of the structural stability in critical live-load cases were performed considering various geometric parameters, such as the cable arrangement type, the stiffness ratios of the girder and mast, the area of the cables, and the number of cables. Through this parametric study, the effect of geometric shapes on the structural stability of cable-stayed bridges was investigated.