Time-Dependent Response of Spatially Curved Steel-Concrete Composite Members. I: Computational Modeling

Abstract

This paper develops a numerical formulation for the nonlinear time-dependent analysis of steel-concrete composite members that are curved arbitrarily in space, which includes the effects of concrete shrinkage, creep, and geometric nonlinearity. This formulation is applicable to the analysis of composite arches and composite beams curved in plan, representing the limiting cases of members that are vertically and horizontally curved. The flexibility of the shear connection at the interface surface between the steel girder and the concrete deck is taken into consideration in the formulation. For an accurate serviceability limit state analysis of composite curved members, it is essential to include the shrinkage and creep response of the concrete component in the analysis. To also include the effects of geometric nonlinearity, a step-by-step incremental iterative solution procedure is adopted. Comparisons of the numerical solutions with those based on much less efficient and tractable viscoelastic ABAQUS shell element models, and with available experimental results, verify the accuracy of the computational formulation that is developed. Examples are chosen to illustrate the effects of partial interaction and initial curvature on the time-dependent behavior of spatially curved composite beams.