Impact Behavior of Concrete Bridge Deck on Girders Due to Moving Vehicles

The purpose of this research is to interpret the behavior of highway bridge decks due to the impact of moving vehicles. First, the analytical theory is briefly presented, including the vehicle model, bridge model, road surface model, and numerical methods. Both the vehicle and the bridge are simulated as thre- dimensional constructs. The road profile is modeled using a stationary Gaussian random process that is described by a power spectral density (PSD) function. Newmark's direct integration method is used in the bridge dynamic analysis. The bridge deck free and forced vibration characteristics, including the impact factors of moment and shear with both single and multiple trucks traveling over a rough deck, are investigated. Then, the stiffness effects of the longitudinal girders are studied. Analytical results show that the dynamic loading of the bridge deck is significantly smaller than that of the longitudinal girders as the direction of the deck main internal forces is perpendicular to the vehicle travel direction. The research results are applicable to bridge deck design.