Static response of curved steel thin-walled box-girder bridge subjected to Indian railway loading

Abstract

Purpose: The primary objective of the current study is to numerically model the steel thin-walled curved box-girder bridge and to examine its various response parameters subjected to Indian Railway loading. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is conducted by adopting a one dimensional curved thin-walled box-beam finite beam element based on finite element methodology. The scope of the work includes a computationally efficient, three-noded, one-dimensional representation of a thin-walled box-girder bridge, which is especially desirable for its preliminary analysis and design phase, as well as a study of the static characteristics of a steel curved bridge, which is critical for interpreting its dynamic response. Findings: The analytical results computed using finite element based MATLAB coding are presented in the form of various stress resultants under the effect of various combinations of Indian Railway loads. Additionally, the variation in different response parameters due to changes in radius and span length has also been investigated. Research limitations/implications: The research is restricted to the initial design and analysis phase of box-girder bridge, where the wall thickness is small as compared to the cross-section dimensions. The current approach can be extended to future research using a different method, such as Extended finite element technique on curved bridges by varying boundary conditions and number of elements. Originality/value: The validation of the adopted finite element approach is done by solving a numerical problem, which is in excellent agreement with the previous research findings. Also, previous studies had aimed at thin-walled box girders that had been exposed to point loading, uniformly distributed loading, or highway truck loading, but no research had been done on railway loading. Moreover, no previous research had performed the static analysis on thin-walled box-girders with six different response parameters, as the current study has. Engineers will benefit greatly from the research as it will help them predict the static behaviour of the curved thin-walled girder bridge, as well as assess their free vibration and dynamic response analysis.