Steel-concrete Composite Bridge Deck Research Articles

Application of high-performance cementitious composites in steel–concrete composite bridge deck systems: A review

Application of high-performance cementitious composites in steel–concrete composite bridge deck systems: A review

Structural Design and Mechanical Behavior Investigation of Steel–Concrete Composite Decks of Narrow-Width Steel Box Composite Bridge

Steel–concrete composite decks are commonly employed in narrow-width steel box composite girder bridges to augment their lateral spanning capabilities, while the concurrent omission of longitudinal stiffeners leads to a substantial reduction in the number of components, thereby yielding a structurally optimized bridge configuration. This paper delineates the structural design parameters of a narrow-profile steel box composite girder bridge and assess the mechanical behavior of its incorporated steel–concrete composite deck under static and fatigue loading conditions. To this end, two full-scale segment specimens from the composite bridge decks were subjected to equal amplitude cyclic fatigue tests. The investigation specifically concentrated on the impacts of two types of shear connectors—namely, perforated steel plates combined with shear studs and perfobond rib shear connectors (PBL connectors)—on the static and fatigue performance, including fatigue stiffness, of the steel–concrete composite bridge decks. The results indicate that, under the static bending condition, the composite deck specimen equipped with stud connectors demonstrates superior overall flexural stiffness in comparison to the specimen featuring PBL connectors. Furthermore, the flexural stiffness of the steel–concrete composite specimens experiences a negligible alteration across two million fatigue loading cycles. Upon the completion of two million fatigue loading cycles, the composite deck specimens incorporating the shear connectors composed of perforated steel plates and shear studs exhibit relatively wider crack widths under the static peak load. Both configurations of the steel–concrete composite bridge deck specimens manifest evident interfacial detachment, signifying insufficient tensile pull-out stiffness of the shear connectors. It is recommended to increase the quantity of the shear connectors or select the pertinent types in order to enhance the interface shear resistance.

Investigation on permanent deformation in steel-concrete composite beam bridge deck pavement under temperature-load coupling effect

Rutting is one of the common distresses observed in asphalt pavement, influenced by temperature and load conditions. To clarify the permanent deformation behavior of steel-concrete composite beam (SCCB) bridge deck pavement under temperature-load coupling effect and provide references for the distress cause analysis, five typical SCCB bridge deck pavements were selected. The temperature distribution and the temperature stress of the pavement structures were analyzed by numerical simulation under periodic temperature variations. In addition, considering the daily variation in traffic volume, the permanent deformation of the five pavement structures were calculated under temperature-load coupling effect. Finally, the influence of heavy load on the development of rutting distress was also investigated. The results show that the temperature field and temperature stresses within the SCCB bridge deck pavement exhibit periodic variations under periodic temperature variations. Additionally, after 500,000 times of standard axle load application, “EA + SMA” exhibits the smallest permanent deformation and the best resistance to rutting distress under temperature-load coupling effect. Finally, heavy load conditions have a great influence on the permanent deformation of SCCB bridge deck pavement. In areas with severe rutting distresses, it is recommended to use “EA + SMA” pavement structure in SCCB bridge.

Design and Optimization of the Bi-Directional U-Ribbed Stiffening Plate–Concrete Composite Bridge Deck Structure

The steel–concrete composite structure is widely used in civil engineering for large-span bridges. Orthotropic steel bridge decks (OSDs) have particularly gained popularity due to their excellent mechanical performance. To address cracking issues in OSDs and concrete in negative moment regions, a novel bi-directional U-ribbed stiffening plate (BUSP)–concrete composite bridge deck is proposed. By using finite element analysis, the mechanical performance is evaluated based on maximum tensile stress and vertical displacement of concrete overlays. Results show that the BUSP–concrete deck outperformed conventional flat decks. It is also found that increasing the height, thickness, and opening width of U-ribs reduced tensile stress and maximum displacement. Adjusting height had the most significant effect on displacement while opening width affected tensile stress the most. Considering material usage, optimizing height is proved to be more effective than adjusting thickness and opening width. Decreasing spacing parameters improved performance but added complexity and reduced construction convenience. These findings will guide the design and optimization of steel–concrete composite bridge deck structures.

Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway: a new paradigm for China’s cross-sea railways

The new 277 km Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway in China is the country’s first cross-sea railway designed for operational speeds of 350 km/h. Completed in 2023, it involved various advanced construction technologies, including the world’s first 1000 t bridge-building machine to be used offshore, advanced corrosion-resistant steel, pioneering rotation of a main bridge pylon, and aerodynamic steel–concrete composite bridge decks with ballastless tracks. The innovative project represents a milestone for China’s high-speed railway, heralding a new era of cross-sea transportation.

A Symplectic-Spectral Element Method for High Frequency Vibration Analysis and Its Application in Structure-Borne Noise Prediction

The frequency-domain vibration model of the vehicle-track structure is established based on the symplectic-spectral element method (S-SEM). To this end, the vehicle is considered as 10-degree-of-freedom, and the rail is modeled by an infinite Timoshenko beam supported by discrete sprung fasteners. Further, the track slab and base plate are regarded as two-dimensional Timoshenko beams supported by uniformly distributed sprung elements. Using the pseudo excitation method (PEM), the track irregularity is viewed as the pseudo load. The vibration response and the internal force of the single-layer or multi-layer beam models are obtained by solving the corresponding S-SEM-based equations. The spectral forces are also applied in frequency bands to the finite element (FE) and statistical energy analysis (SEA) acoustic models. The steel-concrete composite bridge deck is simulated with composite plate materials. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by comparing the predicted results with those obtained from the field test. The achieved results reveal that multi-layer beam structures effectively consume energy, and elastic fasteners and steel springs are capable of effectively reducing bridge noise.

Experimental study on flexural performance of steel-UHTCC composite bridge decks considering different shear connection degrees

Traditional steel–concrete composite bridge deck (CBD) is prone to crack in the concrete layer, which reduces its flexural capacity and durability. Due to the excellent crack resistance behavior and characteristic of tensile strain hardening, ultra-high toughness cementitious composite (UHTCC) has become a promising material to solve this problem. In this study, the flexural performance of bridge decks composed of steel and UHTCC using shear studs is analyzed by means of experimental research and finite element (FE) analysis. Five steel-UHTCC CBDs with different shear connection degrees and rib dimensions were fabricated and tested. Then, FE models of steel-UHTCC CBDs were established by ABAQUS, involving FE examples for comparing with the tests and 10 groups of models to conduct a parametric study. The flexural resistant performance of steel-UHTCC CBDs was studied concerning the key design parameters, including stud number, span length, rib dimension, thickness of UHTCC and longitudinal reinforcement ratio. The effect of shear connection degree on the flexural resistance of CBDs was discussed in detail. Finally, a modified theoretical formula was proposed for predicting the flexural resistance of steel-UHTCC CBDs.

Wind tunnel tests on the unsteady galloping of a bridge deck with open cross section in turbulent flow

Steel–concrete composite bridge decks may risk galloping instability during their bridge-launching phase, since the normally first launched steel boxes could feature bluff and lightweight cross section. In our previous study, a bridge deck of open cross section (typically used in steel–concrete composite bridges) has been found in smooth flow highly prone to the unsteady galloping instability occurring at relatively low reduced wind speed. Considering the natural wind field is usually turbulent, motivations arise to understand what role can the incident turbulence play in the galloping instability of this open cross section deck. New wind tunnel tests were therefore carried out in grid-generated turbulent flow, characterized by an integral length scale comparable to the bridge deck height and an intensity of 9% to 15%. For the interested wind angles of attack around null, static tests first indicate the incident turbulence is able to promote an even higher galloping factor than that in smooth flow, while the Strouhal number shows a decrease. This suggests a higher proneness for the galloping and vortex induced vibration to interact. In aeroelastic tests, however, the typical unsteady galloping instability due to the interaction with vortex induced vibration has never been observed. Instead, the unsteady galloping is initiated in a more complicated manner: unrestricted oscillation arises at a reduced wind speed clearly higher than the Kármán-vortex resonance one even for a very low Scruton number (the mass-damping parameter), combined with the absence of any Kármán-vortex excitation. Nevertheless, similar to the smooth flow condition, the nosed-up 4° remains to be the most unfavorable wind angle of attack in turbulent flow, featuring the lowest galloping onset in the low Scruton number condition. Finally, dependent on the magnitude of Scruton number, it is able to conclude that the incident turbulence can either suppress or promote the galloping instability of this bridge deck.

Fatigue performance and optimal design of corrugated steel–concrete composite bridge deck

Orthotropic steel bridge deck (OSD) has been widely used in long and medium span bridges. However, traditional OSD with U-ribs is prone to fatigue cracking at the deck-to-rib welded joint. Corrugated steel–concrete composite bridge deck (CSCCBD) composed of corrugated steel plate, concrete layer and perforated plate shear connectors was proposed recently to improve the fatigue performance of the bridge deck. In this paper, comparing of the fatigue performance of OSD and CSCCBD was conducted through finite element (FE) analysis. The results showed that the stress amplitude of deck-to-rib welded joint of CSCCBD was reduced by more than 90 % compared with OSD. The fatigue problem of deck-to-rib welded joints can be solved fundamentally. It is further studied that distribution of fatigue vulnerability details of CSCCBD. The most unfavorable fatigue vulnerability details are located around the diaphragm-to-rib weld. The fatigue life of CSCCBD was evaluated based on the linear cumulative damage theory. Consequently, the effect of diaphragm cut-out on the fatigue performance of CSCCBD was studied. It was found that the diaphragm without cut-out can effectively reduce the stress amplitude caused by vehicles, and increase the earliest fatigue cracking life of details around the diaphragm-to-rib weld from 2.16 years to 43.4 years compared with OSD. Finally, the section form of CSCCBD without cut-out was optimized by response surface method (RSM). It was proved that RSM was adequate for the optimization design of CSCCBD.

Saleyard Bridge, UK – an improved approach to precasting steel–concrete composite bridge decks

Saleyard Bridge carries the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road over the River Clydach near Gilwern, Monmouthshire, UK. It comprises a 67 m single-span steel–concrete composite multi-girder superstructure made integral with the abutments. A full-depth precast deck was chosen to tackle site constraints and improve constructability. The alternative precast panel connection detail developed used straight laps to overcome the problems that can arise from using typical U-bar loop type connections between precast deck panels. The successful use of the precast panels proved that a deck design with straight laps was a practical alternative. The ability to increase the multi-beam centres and avoid cantilever edge formwork created a more economical solution with savings estimated at £500 000. The paper examines the detailed design and construction planning needed to realise the savings and speed up construction as well as improving site safety. The lessons learnt are also applicable to the wider use of precast panels as an alternative to in situ concreting.

Generalized Beam Theory deformation modes for steel–concrete composite bridge decks including shear connection flexibility

This paper proposes a procedure to calculate cross-section deformation modes for steel–concrete composite bridge cross-sections, including shear connection flexibility, within the framework of the Generalized Beam Theory (GBT). The proposed procedure is computationally efficient and makes it possible to (i) handle arbitrary (flat-walled) composite cross-sections, including complex configurations with several closed cells, (ii) consider the geometric offset between the steel and concrete mid-lines, which is essential in steel–concrete composite members, and (iii) automatically identify, separate, and hierarchize the deformation modes into physically meaningful sets, including a set of shear connection slip deformation modes. For illustrative purposes, the various deformation mode sets are determined for two representative cross-sections, namely a twin-girder and a box-girder with closed longitudinal stiffeners. These deformation modes are then employed to perform the structural analysis of simply supported decks, showing that very accurate results are obtained with a small number of deformation modes and that the modal decomposition of the solution provides in-depth insight regarding the bridge structural behavior.

Fatigue Performance of Steel-Concrete Composite Continuous Box Girder Bridge Deck

The fatigue performance of the bridge deck significantly affects the safety and durability of the overall steel-concrete composite beam bridge. Based on the vehicle flow information of the highway within 10 years, the fatigue performance of a two-way four-lane steel-concrete composite continuous beam bridge deck is studied in this research. The results indicate that the effect of the wheel track position is negligible for two-way four-lane bridge when the wheel track sways laterally, and the fatigue stress of bridge deck concrete is the most unfavorable while the loading position is 7.0 m away from the bridge center line. The fatigue damage decreases by 30%–40% when the centerline of the lane deviates from the most unfavorable stress position by 1 m. The punching fatigue of the concrete is more sensitive to the changes in slab thickness, and the thickness of the deck concrete slab is recommended to be ≥35 cm.

Study on the life cycle simulation method of the temperature field and temperature effect of a steel–concrete composite bridge deck system

Traditional theoretical calculations, field measurements, and finite element methods sometimes fail to realize life cycle simulations of the temperature field and temperature effect of steel–concrete composite bridge deck systems. In this paper, a simulation method based on a back propagation–long short-term memory (BP-LSTM) network correlation model is proposed to predict the temperature field and temperature effect in a low-cost and highly efficient manner. A bridge was used as the engineering background according to a health monitoring system, and the finite element method based on the principle of heat transfer was used to expand the data sets. Data sets with structural, time, and environmental characteristics as the independent variables and temperature and the temperature effect as the dependent variables were formed. The correlation between the dependent and independent variables was verified using the maximal information coefficient. Thus, the BP-LSTM model was established, and the mean squared error loss function considering the time weight was designed. The data set was read in for training, verification, and testing, and a correlation model representing the relationship between the set’s independent and dependent variables was obtained with relatively high accuracy. Finally, combined with the bridge’s historical meteorological data, the established correlation model was used to simulate the bridge’s temperature field and temperature effect. The results indicated that the finite element calculation results of the structure’s temperature field based on the heat transfer principle were basically consistent with the measured results. The independent variables in the data set were non-linearly related to the dependent variables. The BP-LSTM’s prediction accuracy of the temperature field and temperature effect was above 98.8% and 94.5%, respectively, in good agreement with the target value. The variation law of the temperature field and temperature effect of the steel–concrete composite bridge deck system simulated by combining the historical meteorological statistics was in accordance with reality.

Experimental study and numerical simulation of temperature gradient effect for steel-concrete composite bridge deck

The temperature distribution of the bridge and its thermal effect has always been an important issue for researchers. To investigate the temperature distribution and thermal stress in the steel-concrete composite bridge deck, a 1:4 ratio temperature gradient effect experimental study was carried out in this paper. First, a set of experimental equipment for laboratory temperature gradient loading was designed based on the principle of temperature gradient caused by solar radiation, the temperature gradient obtained from the measurements were compared with the specifications and verified by the FE method. Next, the loading of the steel-concrete composite deck at different temperatures was performed. The thermal stress response and change trend of the simply supported and continuously constrained boundary conditions under different temperature loads were analyzed. The experimental results show that the vertical temperature of steel-concrete composite bridge deck is nonlinear, which is consistent with the temperature gradient trend of specifications. The vertical temperature gradient has a great influence on the steel-concrete composite bridge deck under different constraints, and the extreme stress of concrete slab and steel beam is almost linear with the temperature gradient. Finally, some suggestions for steel-concrete composite deck design were provided based on the research results.

钢–混组合梁桥桥面板受力分析

钢–混组合梁桥桥面板受力分析

Experimental study on behavior of corrugated steel-concrete composite bridge decks with MCL shape composite dowels

In this paper, corrugated steel-concrete composite bridge decks with perfobond ribs (PBL) and modified clothoid (MCL) shape shear connectors have been experimentally studied. Six specimens were designed, push-out tests were performed, load-slip curves were drawn and static mechanical property indices of two types of shear connectors were analyzed. Two full-scale deck slab specimens with MCL shape shear connectors were fabricated and flexural tests were conducted on them. The following conclusions were drawn from the experiments. Both types of shear connectors showed ductile failure mode. The ultimate bearing capacity, shear stiffness and ductility of MCL shape composite dowels were higher than those of PBL shear connectors. When elliptical holes were made in MCL shape composite dowels, ultimate bearing capacity was significantly increased. Full-scale flexural test results indicated that MCL shear connectors were effective for corrugated steel composite bridge decks.

Vibration-Based Damage Detection of a Steel-Concrete Composite Slab Using Non-Model-Based and Model-Based Methods

This paper presents vibration-based damage detection (VBDD) for testing a steel-concrete composite bridge deck in a laboratory using both model-based and non-model-based methods. Damage that appears on a composite bridge deck may occur either in the service condition or in the loading condition. To verify the efficiency of the dynamic test methods for assessing different damage scenarios, two defect cases were designed in the service condition by removing the connection bolts along half of a steel girder and replacing the boundary conditions, while three damage cases were introduced in the loading condition by increasing the applied load. A static test and a multiple reference impact test (MRIT) were conducted in each case to obtain the corresponding deflection and modal data. For the non-model-based method, modal flexibility and modal flexibility displacement (MFD) were used to detect the location and extent of the damage. The test results showed that the appearance and location of the damage in defect cases and loading conditions can be successfully identified by the MFD values. A finite element (FE) model was rationally selected to represent the dynamic characteristics of the physical model, while four highly sensitive physical parameters were rationally selected using sensitivity analysis. The model updating technique was used to assess the condition of the whole deck in the service condition, including the boundary conditions, connectors, and slab. Using damage functions, Strand7 software was used to conduct FE analysis coupled with the MATLAB application programming interface to update multiple physical parameters. Of the three different FE models used to simulate the behavior of the composite slab, the calculated MFD of the shell-solid FE model was almost identical to the test results, indicating that the performance of the tested composite structure could be accurately predicted by this type of FE model.

Great Western electrification programme, UK: Bridge Street overbridge reconstruction

Bridge Street overbridge next to Newport station in south Wales was replaced to enable electrification of the Great Western main line railway between London and Cardiff. The former 120-year-old steel truss bridge was too low and in poor condition, so a half-through weathering steel–concrete composite bridge deck with a smaller structural depth was lifted onto the existing abutments. The new bridge requires minimal maintenance, reducing overhead-line hazards and whole-life costs. This paper describes the key considerations and challenges associated with the strengthening and removal of the existing superstructure, the modifications that were required to the original abutments, and the design and construction of the new superstructure.

Full-Scale Experimental Study on the Negative Flexural Behavior of Orthotropic Steel–Concrete Composite Bridge Deck

The orthotropic steel–concrete composite deck, which consists of a concrete slab, an orthotropic steel plate, and shear connectors, has been applied for ameliorating the vehicle-induced fatigue damage on steel bridge decks. However, its static performance, especially its negative bending performance, has rarely been considered, despite its critical role in bridge durability and safety. Accordingly, negative bending tests on four full-scale composite deck specimens were carried out, in which the effects of steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC), the reinforcement ratio, and the shear connector type were investigated. The full-scale orthotropic steel plates of the test specimens were stiffened by large U-ribs, which were designed for construction convenience and cost reduction in applied engineering practice. The test results show that the bending stiffness of the composite deck was influenced by the reinforcement ratio and the shear connector type, and the load-carrying capacity was sensitive to the reinforcement ratio. The ultimate status was found to be dominated by buckling of the steel ribs. The use of SFRC had an obvious restraining effect on the crack-width development. Finally, the applicability of the current codes for the composite girder to the composite deck was verified by comparing the corresponding evaluations of reinforcement stress, bending stiffness, and crack feature with the test results.

Numerical investigation of temperature gradient-induced thermal stress for steel–concrete composite bridge deck in suspension bridges

A 3D finite element model (FEM) with realistic field measurements of temperature distributions is proposed to investigate the thermal stress variation in the steel–concrete composite bridge deck system. First, a brief literature review indicates that traditional thermal stress calculation in suspension bridges is based on the 2D plane structure with simplified temperature profiles on bridges. Thus, a 3D FEM is proposed for accurate stress analysis. The focus is on the incorporation of full field arbitrary temperature profile for the stress analysis. Following this, the effect of realistic temperature distribution on the structure is investigated in detail and an example using field measurements of Aizhai Bridge is integrated with the proposed 3D FEM model. Parametric studies are used to illustrate the effect of different parameters on the thermal stress distribution in the bridge structure. Next, the discussion and comparison of the proposed methodology and simplified calculation method in the standard is given. The calculation difference and their potential impact on the structure are shown in detail. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations for future bridge analysis and design are given based on the proposed study.