Prestressed Concrete Bridge Research Articles

Topology Optimization of Continuous Precast Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders Using Shape Memory Alloys

Despite the growing interest in the concept of topology optimization, its acceptance in civil structures, especially in prestressed concrete structures, is still faced with practical obstacles primarily due to the geometric complexities of optimized structures. Quite often, complex concrete topology yields a complex distribution of tensile zones, which are hard to be effectively prestressed with continuous steel reinforcement. Shape memory alloys (SMAs), with their ability to apply localized prestressing force only at target tensile regions, can offer solutions to the issues facing conventional prestressing steel reinforcement in topology-optimized concrete structures. This paper investigates the topology optimization of prestressed concrete bridge girders using locally prestressed SMAs. A prototype continuous concrete bridge is selected to be optimized under the AASHTO loading conditions. To prove the feasibility of the optimized design, a detailed 3D finite element analysis is performed. The performance of the optimized girder is compared with that of two commonly used conventional designs. The results show that the optimized design can effectively satisfy the AASHTO limit state with less material than the conventional cases.

Chloride ion erosion of pre-stressed concrete bridges in cold regions

The erosion of chloride ions in concrete bridges will accelerate the corrosion of reinforcement, which is an important reason for the decline of bridge durability. The erosion process of chloride ion, especially deicing salt solution in cold regions, is complex and has many influencing factors. It is very important to use accurate and effective methods to analyze the chloride ion erosion process in concrete. In this study, the pre-stressed concrete bridge retired in the cold region was taken as the research object, and the specimens from the whole bridge are obtained by the method of core drilling sampling. The concentration of chloride ion was measured at different depths of the specimens. The process of chloride ion erosion was simulated in two-dimensional space through COMSOL multi-physical field simulation, and compared with the measured results. The simulation method proposed in this paper has good reliability and accuracy.

Long-term investigations of dynamic behavior of a pre-stressed concrete ballasted railway bridge

Dynamic properties of civil structures such as natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes are essential parameters for evaluating the health condition of structures. However, dynamic properties are prone to be biased by environmental effects which may lead to fault structural health assessment. To investigate the environmental effect on the dynamic parameters of ballasted bridge, in this paper, a series of vibration experiments were performed on a multi-span pre-stressed concrete beam railway bridge. The dynamic properties of the bridge were identified and analyzed. In total, 9 experiments were conducted in 2 years. In the first 8 experiments, only sleepers and tracks had been removed. For the last experiment, the bridge was under destruction. The subsidiary components of the structure were destructed, and some holes were drilled on the slab for hoisting. The results show a clear seasonal variation in natural frequencies that in winters the natural frequencies reach local maximum values. Damping ratios show no clear variation regularity, indicating the complex correlation between the damping ratios and the environmental variation. Additionally, compression tests of concrete pieces of the slab were also conducted to investigate the degradation of material properties. The result of the compression tests indicates that there is approximately no degradation of compression strength of the concrete slab after the bridge was in service for several over 4 decades.

Machine-Learning-Based Consumption Estimation of Prestressed Steel for Prestressed Concrete Bridge Construction

Accurate prediction of the prestressed steel amount is essential for a concrete-road bridge’s successful design, construction, and long-term performance. Predicting the amount of steel required can help optimize the design and construction process, and also help project managers and engineers estimate the overall cost of the project more accurately. The prediction model was developed using data from 74 constructed bridges along Serbia’s Corridor X. The study examined operationally applicable models that do not require indepth modeling expertise to be used in practice. Neural networks (NN) models based on regression trees (RT) and genetic programming (GP) models were analyzed. In this work, for the first time, the method of multicriteria compromise ranking was applied to find the optimal model for the prediction of prestressed steel in prestressed concrete bridges. The optival model based on GP was determined using the VIKOR method of multicriteria optimization; the accuracy of which is expressed through the MAPE criterion is 9.16%. A significant average share of 46.11% of the costs related to steelworks, in relation to the total costs, indicates that the model developed in the paper can also be used for the implicit estimation of construction costs.

Mechanical Analysis of Junction Pier of Fuzhou-Xiamen High-Speed Railway Rigid-Frame Bridge

The continuous rigid structure bridge on both sides of the Quanzhou Bay Crossing Bridge uses double-limbed thin-walled flexible piers for the junction piers between the links, and the whole bridge has no bearings. In China, the monolithic bearing-free prestressed concrete continuous rigid-frame bridge is used in railway bridges. The junction pier between the two adjacent couplets is a double-leg thin-walled flexible pier. The single leg thin-walled pier is connected with half of the pier-top segment. During the construction process, the block with numbered zero on the top of the pier is temporarily anchored and connected. Symmetrical cantilevered baskets are used on both sides for construction, and after the mid-pier cantilevered construction is completed, the temporary anchoring device for the block with numbered zero is removed. Because the structural system conversion is required in the construction, the mechanical properties of the junction pier will change greatly before and after the conversion, so it is very necessary to calculate and analyze it to master. In this paper, the finite element model of the connecting pier is established accurately, the stress and deformation of each part of the connecting pier under unfavorable working conditions is analyzed in detail, the seismic spectrum analysis under the action of common earthquake and rare earthquake is carried out, and the stress and deformation law of the structure is expounded, which can provide some reference for the construction of similar projects in the future.

Capacity and Load Rating of In-Service Precast Prestressed Concrete Bridge Deck Girders with Transverse Cracks

Capacity and Load Rating of In-Service Precast Prestressed Concrete Bridge Deck Girders with Transverse Cracks

Gaussian process regression-based load-carrying capacity models of corroded prestressed concrete bridge girders for fast-screening and reliability-based evaluation

Fast screening and reliability-based evaluation of corroded prestressed concrete (PC) bridge girders for safety assessment requires efficient capacity prediction models. This paper aims at developing data-based prediction models to quantify corrosion effects on load-carrying capacity of PC girders that are precast and standardized for short-span bridges. The load-carrying capacity of corroded bridge girders depends on their initial design configuration (e.g., those characterized by the standardized PC girders), loading condition (e.g., shear-span-to-effective-depth ratio), and corrosion conditions (e.g., corrosion degree). To develop data-based prediction models, generating sufficient data through physical experimental tests of full-scale corroded PC girders is prohibitively costly. Thus, a virtual experimental database is generated numerically using two-dimensional continuum-based finite element (FE) models for corroded PC girders, after being validated using 9 corroded PC girders tested in the literature with flexure or shear failure. To this end, a total of 4,165 PC girders under point loading are simulated to consider various design, loading, and corrosion conditions to estimate their load-carrying capacities. With this database, probabilistic machine learning, specifically Gaussian process regression or kriging, is used to develop (1) a residual capacity factor model (i.e., the ratio between load-carrying capacities from corroded and uncorroded girders), and (2) a load-carrying capacity prediction model (i.e., to predict the load-carrying capacity of uncorroded/corroded girders). The first model is used to study the load-carrying capacity reduction of PC girders due to corrosion compared to their uncorroded counterparts; this can reveal how the increasing corrosion condition affects the load-carrying capacity of corroded PC girders together with other design and loading parameters. The second model is developed to predict the load-carrying capacity of corroded PC girders as a function of design, loading, and corrosion parameters; its application to conditional reliability analysis provides insights into corrosion effect on the probability of failure of corroded PC girders at given load levels when the capacity is affected by corrosion. The application results of the two models enable engineers to quantify the corrosion effect on PC girders in terms of (1) reduction in load-carrying capacity for fast screening and (2) increase in probability of failure for reliability-based evaluation.

Probabilistic structural identification and condition assessment of prestressed concrete bridges based on Bayesian inference using deflection measurements

This paper presents a model-based probabilistic structural identification that uses the deflection of prestressed concrete bridges (PSCBs) as observational information to perform Bayesian inference on the state variables associated with creep, structural rigidity, dead loads, shrinkage and prestress. The creep development is modeled as a stochastic process, and the structural rigidity is modeled as a stochastic field using the Karhunen–Loève transform. By incorporating the stochastic process/field into the inference frame, detailed information on structural states can be extracted. Considering the high dimension of the state variables, their posterior distributions are derived by the Hamiltonian Markov chain Monte Carlo (HMCMC) algorithm. As an illustrative example, two sets of deflection measurement of a case bridge are used to update the state variables in a sequential manner. Bayesian inference can calibrate the state variables, while the uncertainties associated with the state variables can be reduced. A K-means analysis can reveal the typical modes in the joint posterior distribution of the state variables, corresponding to the typical failure modes in the attributive analysis of the excessive deflection. The updated state variables are used in the probabilistic condition assessment associated with the deflection evolution.

Physics-based models, surrogate models and experimental assessment of the vehicle–bridge interaction in braking conditions

The dynamics of roadway bridges crossed by vehicles moving at variable speed has attracted far less attention than that generated by vehicles travelling at constant velocity. Consequently, the role of some parameters and the combination thereof, as well as influence and accuracy of the modelling strategies, are not fully understood yet. Therefore, a large statistical analysis is performed in the present study to provide novel insights into the dynamic vehicle–bridge interaction (VBI) in braking conditions. To this end, an existing mid-span prestressed concrete bridge is selected as case study. First, several numerical simulations are performed considering alternative vehicle models (i.e., single and two degrees-of-freedom models) and different braking scenarios (i.e., soft and hard braking conditions, with both stationary and nonstationary road roughness models in case of soft braking). The statistical appraisal of the obtained results unfolds some effects of the dynamic VBI modelling in braking conditions that have not been reported in previous studies. Additionally, the use of machine learning techniques is explored for the first time to develop surrogate models able to predict the effect of the dynamic VBI in braking conditions efficiently. These surrogate models are then employed to obtain the fragility curve for the selected prestressed concrete bridge, where the attainment of the decompression moment is considered as relevant limit state. Whilst the derivation of the fragility curve using numerical simulations turned out to be almost unpractical using standard computational resources, the proposed approach that exploits surrogate models carried out via machine learning techniques was demonstrated accurate despite the dramatic reduction of the total elaboration time. Finally, the accuracy of the numerical (physics-based and surrogate) models is evaluated on a statistical basis through comparisons with experimental data.

Assessment of Fatigue Life for Corroded Prestressed Concrete Beams Subjected to High-Cycle Fatigue Loading

Millions of in-service concrete bridges around the world are exceeding their design life. Corrosion may lead to a sudden fracture of prestressing steels, and understanding the fatigue behavior of corroded prestressed concrete (PC) bridges is essential. Accordingly, an effective fatigue analytical model for corroded PC beams is needed. In this study, an experimental investigation of the fatigue behavior of corroded PC beams, was carried out. Thirteen PC beams had experienced acceleration corrosion before high-cycle fatigue testing. All beams failed due to fatigue fracture of the corroded tensile steel bars, and three-dimensional laser scanning results indicated that the fracture occurred at the minimum cross sections with a severe corrosion pit. A segmented linear analytical model to evaluate fatigue response and predict fatigue life was developed which considers fatigue irrecoverable plastic strain of concrete, stress concentration, and longitudinal variation in the cross-sectional areas of corroded steel bars. There is an acceptable agreement between the numerical and experimental results of corroded PC beams. The proposed model can reasonably predict the evolution of strains in concrete, corroded prestressing steel, and rebars in PC beams under high-cycle fatigue loading, thereby allowing fatigue life prediction. Further analysis studied the influence of degree of corrosion in prestressing wires/rebars, stress concentration and longitudinal variation in cross-sectional areas of corroded steel bars, load ranges, and partial prestressing ratios (PPRs). It was found that, to reasonably estimate the fatigue life of corroded PC beams, the influence of stress concentration must be considered with the proposed impact factor. A higher corrosion degree, load range, or PPR shortens the fatigue life of corroded PC beams.

Large-Scale Experimental Static Testing on 50-Year-Old Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders

The heritage of existing road infrastructures and in particular of bridges consists of structures that are approaching or exceeding their designed service life. Detrimental causes such as aging, fatigue and deterioration processes other than variation in loading conditions introduce uncertainties that make structural assessment a challenging task. Experimental data on their performances are crucial for a proper calibration of numerical models able to predict their behavior and life-cycle structural performance. In this scenario, an experimental research program was established with the aim of investigating a set of 50-year-old prestressed concrete bridge girders that were recovered from a decommissioned bridge. The activities included initial non-destructive tests, and then full-scale load tests followed by a destructive test on the material samples. This paper reports the experimental results of the full-scale tests conducted on the first group of four I-beams assumed to be in good condition from visual inspection at the time of testing. Loading tests were performed using a specifically designed steel reaction frame and a test setup equipment, as detailed in the present work. Due to the structural response of this first group of girders, a uniform behavior was found at both service and ultimate conditions. The failure mechanism was characterized by the crushing of the cast-in-situ top slab corresponding to a limited deflection, highlighting a non-ductile behavior. The outcomes of the experimental research are expected to provide new data for the life-cycle safety assessment of existing bridges through an extended database of validated experimental tests and models.

Construction monitoring of a long-span prestressed concrete continuous box girder bridge with variable sections

The structural behaviors in each construction stage were monitored and analyzed against the background of a long-span prestressed concrete continuous box girder bridge with spans of 55+100+55 m. At first, the formwork erection elevation and pre-camber of the bridge in each stage, as well as stress values of key cross-sections were determined by simulating the whole construction process using the finite element software. Then, the design parameters were identified and the model was corrected by field data collection and considering various influencing factors, so as to ensure effectiveness of the model. Finally, the formwork erection elevation was adjusted according to the stress and altitude in each construction stage, followed by closure of the bridge. According to field monitoring and adjustment, the measured alignment and stress of the bridge conform to the design and the error meets the requirements of specification, indicating a favorable monitoring effect. The research can provide reference for construction of similar bridges.

Application of construction monitoring for three-span pre-stressed concrete continuous rigid frame bridge

Pres-tressed concrete continuous rigid frame bridges are widely used in valley and river crossings, and the issues of alignment, stress and safety control during their construction are receiving increasing attention. Taking a continuous steel structure with a main span of 96m+180m+96m as an example, this paper discusses the monitoring scheme, alignment and stress measuring point arrangement; establishes a construction monitoring model and calculates the stress and deformation of all construction stages; conducts construction monitoring of the whole process. The results show that in the bridge construction process, through reasonable construction supervision to ensure that the bridge is smoothly united and the bridge structure alignment meets the design requirements, effectively controlling the construction quality of the bridge.

Data Fusion of Non-destructive Testing Methods for Bridge Deck Condition Assessment

Background: Highway agencies explore the use of non-destructive testing (NDT) for assessing the condition of their infrastructure in the most cost-effective manner. NDTs can provide as-built construction quality, as well as in service condition assessment especially for older structures where some critical information and/or maintenance records are often not available. In many cases, the use of NDTs requires “ground true” data for either calibration or validation. Surveys for obtaining such information is often challenging for in service structures, time consuming and costly. Aim: Objective of this paper is to present a data fusion approach for forensic investigation of bridge decks, in which Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is used to assess the current condition combined with a Laser Scanner system to verify the bridge design features. Methods: The data fusion approach proposed in this study considers using GPR based condition data combined with geometric measurements of the bridge deck obtained from the Laser Scanner system. Such novel fusion approach permits to more accurately measure the current bridge deck conditions in terms of thickness of the bridge deck and rebar depth to assess deterioration. Furthermore, detection of variations in the rebar depth suggested the implementation of a correction procedure for the reflection amplitude of the GPR signal based on true rebar depths instead of the two-way travel time, which is commonly applied. Results: This innovative analysis approach provided a more refined assessment of delaminated areas in the bridge deck. The data fusion and suggested analysis methodology was tested on a pre-stressed concrete bridge in Italy. Discussion: The approach proposed in this study can be used elsewhere for assessing the condition of bridge decks. Conclusion: The merging of such methods is particularly valuable for bridges were construction drawing and records may not be available, and/or there is potential concern of a deviation between design and as-built characteristics (i.e., where quality assurance and quality control records may be questionable).

Dynamic Similitude Analysis for Establishing Scaled-Down Model to Predict Vibration Behaviour of Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girder

Dynamic Similitude Analysis for Establishing Scaled-Down Model to Predict Vibration Behaviour of Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girder

On-Site Manufacturing Method for Pre-Tension U-Type Pre-Stressed Concrete Girders and Analytical Performance Verification of Anchoring Blocks Used for Applying Tension Force

Development of U-type pre-stressed girders has been attempted to increase the length of I-type girders in South Korea. However, a length of 30 m or less is common because the self-weight, according to the post-tension method, is large. In this study, the pre-tension method was applied without limiting the post-tension method to induce a reduction in self-weight and in the materials used because of the decrease in the cross section. In addition, the authors proposed an application of an on-site pre-tensioning method using the internal reaction arm of a U-type girder. A pre-stressed concrete U-type girder bridge is composed of a concrete deck slab and a composite section. Structural performance characteristics, such as resistance and rigidity, were improved compared to those of the PSC I-type girders. Construction safety is also improved in the manufacturing and installation stages, and the elongation ratio is reduced because of the reduction in the weight of the girders. Therefore, it is possible to ensure the aesthetic landscape and economic efficiency of bridges. As a result, it is expected that efficient construction will be possible with high-quality factory-made and cast-in-place members. In this study, the pre-tension method is introduced in the field, and the analytical performance of the anchoring block used for tension is verified.

The Train-Bridge Coupled Vibration Analysis of a Long-Span Prestressed Concrete Continuous Beam Bridge under Creep Deformation Effect

The track smoothness of high-speed railroads is severely limited to ensure train performance. The concrete continuous girder bridge is deformed to influence the smoothness of the bridge decks and track caused by creep bulge. There is a need to research the impact of beam creep on the dynamical response of bridge and train operation safety. This paper used Midas software to calculate the long-term deformation of large-span prestressed concrete continuous beam bridges under concrete creep and shrinkage. The train-bridge coupled system was established by adopting self-programming software. Thereafter, the large-term deformation results of the main girder are considered as track irregularity input into the vibration equation of the train-bridge system. The safety of the train operation was evaluated by calculating the dynamic response of the bridge and analyzing the criteria of train running safety. It was shown that the indicators of the large-span bridge are within the allowable code values under all working conditions. The bridge deformation under creep has an impact on the displacement and acceleration response of the bridge when a high-speed train passes through. There is no noticeable impact of creep deformation on the operational performance of trains. Nevertheless, the criteria for assessing the safety of trains’ operation, such as derailment factor, wheel load differences, lateral wheel forces, and vehicle acceleration, have been increased.

Numerical Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders Failing in Shear

Numerical Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders Failing in Shear

Polya urn model-based performance assessment of PSC bridges: prestress loss consideration

A methodology for performance assessment of prestressed concrete (PSC) girder bridge system, based on strain monitoring in limited number of girders, is proposed in this paper. The methodology uses Polya urn model for determining probabilities of the bridge system being in different condition states with respect to loss of prestress. Performability measure is used for describing the performance of the bridge system. A condition state is assigned for the bridge system from a predefined set of condition states. The time for detailed inspection is determined as the time instant at which the performability of the bridge system becomes less than the target/required performance level. Performance assessment of a bridge system with one hundred PSC girders is considered for illustrating the methodology. The obtained values of condition state probabilities and performability for the considered scenarios (i.e., different number of monitored girders with prestress loss exceeding the allowable value) suggest that the methodology is able to consider the value of available information.

Structural identification via the inference of the stochastic volatility model conditioned on the time-dependent bridge deflection

The time-dependent deflection data collected by a structural health monitoring (SHM) system contains information indicating the damage accumulation of prestressed concrete bridges (PSCBs). However, for this information to be used, the results must be fully translated into reliable metrics. Model-based structural identification (SI) targeting the time-dependent deflection of PSCBs is affected by time-dependent material behavior such as creep and shrinkage as well as the unknown path of structural deterioration, which should be considered in a stochastic volatility model (SVM). This paper presents an inference framework for an SVM conditioned on the time-dependent deflection of PSCBs. In this framework, the augmented state space includes the full ranges of the unobserved state variables affecting the time-dependent deflection of PSCBs, namely, structural rigidity, creep, shrinkage, prestress level and dead load level, along with the volatility parameters associated with the deterioration path of structural rigidity, which is modeled via the Wiener process. Exploiting the latent structure of the SVM, a cyclic Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampler is proposed to draw samples from the joint posterior distribution of the unobserved state variables and volatility parameters. In an illustrative example, two-year continuous deflection monitoring data of an existing bridge are utilized as the target information for inference. The updated model can indicate the accumulated damage of the case bridge over the monitoring period. The proposed SI framework is able to support accurate probabilistic analysis of the time-dependent deflection of PSCB.