Reliability of composite steel bridge beams designed following AASHTO's LFD and LRFD specifications

Abstract

Composite steel beam bridges designed following AASHTO's Load Factor Design (LFD) method and the newly developed Load and Resistance Factor Design method (LRFD) are proportioned for different loading conditions. They need to satisfy these conditions at maximum design load, an overloading condition, and fatigue load. The ultimate strength of compact composite steel beams is based on the fully plastic stress distribution. The capacity of non-compact beams is based on the yield or partially-plastic moment, depending on whether the beam violates all or few of the compactness or ductility requirements. In this paper, the reliability for the ultimate flexural capacity limit state of composite steel beams is investigated. The structural reliability is measured in terms of the reliability index. The statistical data on strength are generated starting from statistics on material properties and using the Monte Carlo simulation method. Statistical data on load components are compiled from the available literature. The scope of the study covers a wide range of rolled beams, span lengths, beam spacings, and two yield strengths. The deterministic study showed that the design of composite steel beams is usually not governed by the maximum design load combination, but rather by the overloading condition. The results of the reliability study indicate non-uniformity in the safety of steel bridges that are designed by the AASHTO LFD code. This is also true for AASHTO's LRFD code since it is not calibrated for the overloading condition. The value of the reliability index is a function of the compactness classification, method of design, beam spacing, span length, and section size.