Nonstructural Influence Factors of Dynamic Load Allowance for Concrete Beam Bridges

Abstract

Studies show that nonstructural parameters, such as pavement conditions or load patterns, have greater influences on the dynamic load allowance (DLA) of bridges than structural parameters. For pavement roughness effects, the values of DLA caused by roughness profiles are calculated by a self-compiled program. The results showed that the values of DLA are discrete even if they are caused by roughness profiles that belong to the same power spectral density (PSD) grade. The PSD grade method for pavement conditions has limitations when it is used in the analysis of DLA. Statistical analysis was also carried out on these DLA results. The statistical analysis indicated that the values of DLA followed a normal distribution when they were excited by roughness profiles that belong to the same grade. For the influence of vehicle string loads on DLA, an improved optimization approach based on a genetic algorithm for the largest DLA is presented. A new method is used to calculate the fitness value in the genetic algorithm (GA) method, which could substantially reduce calculation time. The new approach is able to obtain the most unfavorable arrangement of the vehicle string and estimate the largest DLA caused by it.