Abstract
An automated yield-line analysis technique for reinforced concrete slab structures has been developed at the University of Cambridge and implemented in a computer program called COBRAS for use in assessing the ultimate flexural strength of concrete bridges. The program employs recent developments in solid modelling theory to create a three-dimensional model or ‘picture’ of a bridge and all its components within the computer. This model is built up from a number of separate layers of polygonal regions, each of which represents the plan location within the bridge of a particular structural feature. In combination, these polygons provide all the information necessary to describe the structural parameters of the material components and dimensions of the bridge, the external loading acting on the bridge and the geometric information required for the collapse mechanism analysis. This enables realistic bridge and load configurations to be analysed rigorously and very rapidly. An extensive theoretical and experimental validation programme was undertaken in collaboration with the Transport Research Laboratory and the program has been adopted widely by bridge engineers in the UK and also abroad, primarily for use in assessing the load capacity of short-span reinforced-concrete slab bridges.
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