Finite element analysis of the I-40 bridge over the Rio Grande

Abstract

In the 1960s and 1970s numerous bridges were built in the US with a design similar to those on Interstate 40 (I-40) over the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have provided funds to New Mexico State University (NMSU) through the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department (NMSH and TD) and The Alliance For Transportation Research (ATR) for evaluation and testing of the existing fracture-critical bridges over the Rio Grande. Because the I-40 Bridges over the Rio Grande were to be razed during the summer of 1993, the investigators were able to introduce damage into the structure in order to test various damage identification methods and to observe the changes in load paths through the structure caused by the cracking. To support this research effort, NMSU contracted Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to perform experimental modal analyses, and to develop experimentally verified numerical models of the bridge. A previous report (LA-12767-MS) summarizes the results of the experimental modal analyses. This report summarizes the numerical analyses of the bridges and compares the results of these analyses to the experimental results.