Analytical investigation of curved steel girder behaviour

Horizontally curved bridges meet an increasing demand for complex highway geometries in congested urban areas. A popular type of curved bridge consists of steel I-girders interconnected by cross-frames and a composite concrete deck slab. Prior to hardening of the concrete deck each I-girder is susceptible to a lateral torsional buckling-type failure. Unlike a straight I-girder, a curved I-girder resists major components of stress resulting from strong axis bending, weak axis bending and warping. The combination of these stresses reduce the available strength of a curved girder versus that of an equivalent straight girder.; Experiments demonstrating the ultimate strength characteristics of curved girders are few in number. Of the available experimental research, few studies have used full scale-tests and boundary conditions indicative of those found in an actual bridge structure. Unlike straight girders, curved girders are characterized by nonlinear out-of-plane deformations which, depending upon the magnitude of curvature, may occur at very low load levels. Because of the inherent nonlinear behaviour, some have questioned the application of the term lateral torsional buckling to curved girders; rather curved girders behave in a manner consistent with a deflection-amplification problem. Even with the advent of sophisticated analytical techniques, there is a glaring void in the documented literature regarding calibration of these techniques with known experimental curved girder behaviour.; Presented here is an analytical study of the nonlinear modelling of curved steel girders and bridges. This is accomplished by incorporating large deflection and nonlinear material behaviour into three dimensional finite element models generated using the program ANSYS. Emphasis is placed on the calibration of the finite method with known experimental ultimate strength data. It is demonstrated that accurate predictions of load deformation and ultimate strength are attainable via the finite element method. The method is then extended to study the behaviour of a number of curved girders for which no experimental data exists. The influence of assumptions on the elastic stability behaviour of a curved beam is also examined by first formulating the total potential energy equation using a nonlinear strain definition. Then, the characteristic buckling equations are determined using the second variation of the total potential energy equation.; Conclusion and recommendations are documented regarding the bifurcation and ultimate strength characteristics of curved girders. The finite element method is evaluated and as a tool for assessing curved girder and curved bridge behaviour.