Abstract
Temperature is a significant load on bridges, particularly for long-span steel box girder bridges. This study investigates the temperature-induced static responses of a long-span suspension bridge under real service environmental conditions using numerical simulations and field measurements. Detailed 2D finite element (FE) models of a typical section for the box girder, main cable, hanger, tower column, and crossbeam are constructed. The thermal boundary conditions are determined strictly according to the surrounding environments of a typical sunny day and applied to the FE models. A transient heat-transfer analysis is performed and the time-dependent temperature and its distribution on the bridge are obtained. In addition, a fine, 3D FE model of the bridge is developed for a structural analysis. The calculated temperatures are applied to the 3D model and the temperature-induced structural responses are simulated. The simulated temperatures and the associated static responses have good agreement with the measured counterparts and support the numerical simulation method. The main cable and bridge deck make the greatest contributions to the temperature effects on the suspension bridge. The static responses of bridge caused by the design vehicle load are also calculated. The daily variation of the temperature-induced static responses is comparable with, even higher than, that of the design vehicle load.
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