Comparison of analysis models for semi circular curved box-girder bridge deck

Abstract

With the quick development of transportation infrastructure, there is an increase in the number of construction of curved bridges, particularly in the construction of highway interchanges and overpasses. The most popular type of curved bridges structure being used is Box-Girder. This is due to its efficiency, high strength to weight ratio and aesthetic appealing, and occasionally the use of straight beam is not possible. The LUSAS analysis software was used in this study to simulate and analyze the box-girder curved bridges in various models, namely Grillage, Beam, Finite Element Solid Element and Finite Element Thick Shell models. The study examines and compares the maximum displacement, shear force, bending moment and torsional moment for each model. The results demonstrated that the beam and grillage model produce moment, shear force and torsional moment that can be used directly for design. On the other hand, finite element model gives only stresses which is much more difficult to be used in the design, but useful for local effect analysis. The finite element model with solid element suffered the largest displacement while the beam model had the least amount of displacement