Effect of Concrete Thickness on Fatigue Performance for rib-to-diaphragm in steel-concrete orthotropic composite decks

Abstract

<p>In order to study the effect of thickness of rigid pavement on the fatigue performance of orthotropic deck, the shell-solid finite-element model was established to analyze the stress on the opening area of diaphragms in orthotropic deck under different concrete thickness. The results show that with or without rigid pavement, the stress distribution of the bridge deck and the hot-spot stress at the opening area of the diapragm are significantly different. The stess amplitude at the diaphragm- opening area of the orthotropic steel bridge deck with rigid pavement is only half of that in orthotropic steel bridge deck without rigid pavement. The thickness of the concrete has a great influence on the fatigue strength of the opening area of the diaphragm in orthotropic steel bridge deck when the concrete thickness is no more than 100 mm.</p>