Impact study for multi-girder bridge based on correlated road roughness

Abstract

The impact behavior of a multigirder concrete bridge under single and multiple moving vehicles is studied based on correlated road surface characteristics. The bridge structure is modeled as grillage beam system. A 3D nonlinear vehicle model with eleven degrees of freedom is utilized according to the HS20-44 truck design loading in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) specifications. A triangle correlation model is introduced to generate four classes of longitudinal road surface roughness as multi-correlated random processes along deck transverse direction. On the basis of a correlation length of approximately half the bridge width, the upper limits of impact factors obtained under confidence level of 95 percent and side-by-side three-truck loading provide probability-based evidence for the evaluation of AASHTO specifications. The analytical results indicate that a better transverse correlation among road surface roughness generally leads to slightly higher impact factors. Suggestions are made for the routine maintenance of this type of highway bridges.