Studies on Coordinated Work of Steel Orthotropic Deck and Longitudinal and Transverse Beams

Comparative analysis is made of the strain at the corresponding test points of the longitudinal and transverse beams before and after replacement of the deck under the full bridge test load to study their coordinated work condition after the concrete deck is replaced with the steel orthotropic deck. The software ANSYS is adopted for finite element analysis, and, with the shell elements, a local 3D finite element model is set up and loaded as per relevant specifications to compare and analyze the forces on those beams before and after deck replacement. The result is that good results can be achieved by the coordinated work of old and new components, from which it can be deduced that the bolted and welded truss bridge with a large span can be strengthened effectively with the orthotropic deck.