Design Criteria Study Reinforced Concrete And Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders:Comparison Of Chinese Norms And Eurocode

As the hub of highway projects, bridge plays an important role in the national economy. Its’ security and economy has a direct impact on the social wealth and state-owned assets. Bridge design specification is a guide to bridge engineers who carry out the design work. It is also a standard for assess the safety and suitability of the bridge structures. As the liberalization and internationalization in construction industry progresses, more and more companies began to study foreign norms.This paper is a part of research projects named "A Comparison Study of Foreign Highway Bridge Design Codes", which is supported by China Road and Bridge Engineering Co., Ltd. This paper provided a comprehensive analysis and comparison between Chinese Code and Eurocode at the aspects of materials, loads and combinations, Ultimate Limit State, Serviceability Limit State, etc. By calculating and analyzing 19 typical bridges drawings which is published by The Ministry of Transport, this paper discussed the security and economic differences respectively in the respect of action effects, capacity, capacity/action effects. The main content of the study is as follows:Firstly, this paper described the relevant provisions on design criteria, limits state design methods and reliability index, and summarized material strength index, load effect combination and correlation coefficient in both codes. This paper emphatically discussed the calculation methods of vehicle loads and the loss of prestress.Secondly, use Midas/Civil 8.2.1 finite element analysis software to establish the finite element analysis model of those 19 bridges. The design parameters were determined respectively from the provisions of Chinese Code and Eurocode. Some useful datas, such as action effects, section bearing capacity, stress, deflection, were obtained through the Ultimate Limit State and Serviceability Limit State calculations.Finally, this paper analyzed and discussed the economic differences between both codes, according to the comprehensive comparison study of load effects, section bearing capacity and load bearing capacity ratio effects. The conclusion is that Eurocode has more economic advantages to Chinese Code. Then a calculation example of 4 × 30m continuous beam bridge is providedThe methods and conclusions of this paper can be applicable and valueable for the domestic enterprises to participate in overseas projects.