Performance of Steel Bridge Girders Subjected to Damage and Heat Straightening Repair

Abstract

This paper focuses on the heat straightening repair and rehabilitation of steel bridge girders damaged by collision with overheight trucks. The paper presents an numerical approach for simulating the damage, and the heat straightening repair of composite steel bridge girders. This approach is used to investigate the effects of damage followed by heat straightening repair on the: (a) residual stresses, (b) serviceability, and (c) ultimate load capacity of composite steel girders and bridges. Additionally, the effects of steel material and girder geometric properties, damage magnitude and location, and heating patterns and distribution are also evaluated. The results from the numerical parametric studies provide guidelines for designing heat straightening repairs, estimating final residual stresses, and evaluating the state (performance) of damaged-repaired steel bridges. These results are based on simulation only, and need further experimental investigations and validation, which is ongoing.