Numerical and Experimental Modeling of the Static Response of Simply Supported Thin-Walled Box Girder Bridges

Abstract

This paper presents numerical and experimental modeling of the static response of simply supported thin-walled reinforced concrete box girder bridges. The work is executed to verify the validity of software developed by the authors for the finite strip analysis of continuous thin-walled box girder bridges and also to observe the effect of flange width on the static response of these type of structural elements under service load from experimental and numerical studies. The laboratory load/deformation relationship is presented in the form of deflection ratios that is displayed alongside the finite strip analysis results of the same loading condition. The results obtained from the laboratory experiment and the software showed very good agreement and are, averagely, 21.5% and 19.5% higher than that of the beam theory solution respectively. Verification of the software with published solutions is also conducted. The results from the developed software showed very good agreement with literature in terms of deflection and stress distributions. These results suggest that the effect of shear deformation, which is more significant on deflection than on stresses, increases with increase in flange width and that the developed software is capable of capturing the general behavior of thin-walled box girder bridges.