Abstract
Abstract Culverts are structures used in road and railway infrastructure works such as underpasses. Among the several forms of cross-sections, the rectangular one (box culvert) has been mostly employed. However, when installed at high embankments, this structure shows high values of bending moment and shear force, which tend to be amplified by the soil arching. This paper addresses a study of section culvert with an arc cover, called modified, and a section defined by three arches, with a flat base. Such cross-section forms reduce the bending moment due to their geometry, and efforts can be decreased with the use of reduced thicknesses by mechanisms of soil-structure interaction. Analyses were performed in the plane-strain deformation with finite elements towards considering soil-structure interaction, and the results proved the influence of the geometry shape on the soil-culvert interaction behavior. A comparative analysis of the material cost index (ICM) values for 25 geometries (12 modified culverts, 12 culverts defined by three arcs and 1 box culvert) was used for estimating the economic viability of each unusual section culvert. The results showed 27 and 54% economy in materials for modified culvert and culvert defined by three arcs, respectively, in comparison with the rectangular section.
Highlights
Culverts are normally used for sewage, water or gas distribution, urban drainage and underpasses, and, in a smaller proportion, but high potential, passage of electricity, telephony and data transmission cables
5 CONCLUSIONS This article has reported a numerical investigation on the behavior of culverts at great depths (H> Bc), and, according to the results for the box culvert and the proposed culverts with unusual cross sections, the following conclusions can be drawn: a) The analysis of the diagrams showed changes in the geometries of the cross sections significantly changed the requesting strength
Regarding culverts defined by three arches, cross sections of ellipse shape promote the best distribution of strength, and the greater the radius of the lateral arc in relation to the radius of the coverage arc, the lesser the strength
Summary
Culverts are normally used for sewage, water or gas distribution, urban drainage and underpasses, and, in a smaller proportion, but high potential, passage of electricity, telephony and data transmission cables. Arc sections show an alteration in the distribution of internal forces, and the soil-culvert interaction is established with higher intensity in great depths, which, in some situations, increases the loads on the structure, and decreases them in others. This behavior can be affected by both type of installation of the culvert and relative stiffness of the system, i. The stress capacity of the soil is more demanding, inducing reductions in the values of the internal forces in the culvert Another important aspect is both thickness reduction and increased flexibility of the culvert contribute to the arching effect of the soil; evaluations of culverts with such characteristics must consider the mechanism of soil-structure interaction through numerical simulations. The installation of the section defined by three arches promotes an easier construction of the lateral embankment near the base; differently from circular sections, the well-consolidated compaction of the lateral soil prisms contributes to containment
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