Soil-Structure Interaction Analysis And Design Method Study Of Buried Corrugated Steel Bridges

Corrugated steel plate bridges widely built as highway structures of small spans, which are so-called soil-steel bridges, derive their strength from the interaction between the soil and the corrugated steel components of the system.The objective of this paper is to study the soil-structure interaction for soil-steel structures under earth and live loadings and to develop a simplified design procedure for corrugated steel culverts and bridges. The objective is met by conducting an extensive finite element analysis for a circular culvert and arch bridge in Inner Mongolia of China using both two-dimensional nonlinear model and three-dimensional model for varied load cases. The two-dimensional nonlinear model utilizes a nonlinear constitute model of soil material and equivalent two-dimensional live loads based on vehicle loads adopt in Chinese Highway Bridge Design Code to model the soil-structure interaction; The three-dimension model is built up by real shape of corrugations using the equivalent soil pressure loads. The performance of the finite element models is examined by conducting comparisons with both nonlinear improved closed-form elasticity solution and the measured results for the circular culverts and arch bridges.The review of soil-steel structure design practice revealed numerous differences among current method as well as deficiencies. Proposed design limit states were identified and the partial safety factors for loads and resistance was discussed base on the unified standard for reliability design of China. In the end, a simplified design method for soil-steel structure has been developed based on the analysis results of this paper and comparisons work of design practices.