Application of EBEF Method for the Distortional Analysis of Steel Box Girder Bridge Superstructures during Construction

Abstract

For curved steel box girder bridges, loads applied away from the shear center of the box can be separated into bending and torsional components. Associated with these flexural and torsional loads are three normal stresses, four shear stresses, and one bending stress. The least understood stresses are stresses (normal distortional warping stress, distortional warping shear stress and distortional transverse bending stress) associated with distorsion of the box cross section. By the addition of steel diaphragms, distortional stresses can be decreased. A practical approach to the distortional analysis of steel box girder bridge superstructures during construction is presented in this paper. The EBEF (equivalent beam on elastic foundation) method is an enhancement of the BEF (beam on elastic foundation) method, which has been widely used in design practice. Also presented herein are methodologies and results of numerical examples in comparison with the finite strip method.