Reliability-based vehicle weight limit determination for urban bridge network subjected to stochastic traffic flow considering vehicle-bridge coupling

Abstract

Nowadays, the overload issue is becoming more prevalent which inevitably accelerates the degradation of bridges. Restriction on vehicle weight is a practical option to solve this issue. Under the circumstances, a reliability-based method is proposed in this paper to determine the vehicle weight limit of urban bridges. Firstly, the framework of the methodology is presented and a stochastic urban traffic model is established through the site-specific weigh-in-motion data. Then refined vehicle-bridge coupling simulation is incorporated in the framework of the method. Subsequently, reliability analysis is performed based on the probabilistic density evolution method, and uncertainties in both the load and the structural resistance are taken into account. Finally, the vehicle weight limits for 75 urban bridges in Nanjing, China were investigated as a case study. The results showed that the proposed method can obtain more reasonable vehicle weight limits, which would effectively increase the reliability of urban bridges and provide references for policymakers.