FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF CURVED BOX GIRDER BRIDGES

EXISTING FINITE ELEMENT SOLUTIONS OF BOX GIRDERS BRIDGES EMPLOY THE BASIC TRIANGULAR OR RETANGULAR SHELL ELEMENTS. THESE ELEMENTS DO NOT REPRESENT THE IN-PLANE BENDING ACTION OF THE CELL WALLS EFFICIENTLY AND, THEREFORE, TO OBTAIN ACCURATE RESULTS A FINE MESH IDEALIZATION MUST BE USED. IN THIS PAPER AN ELEMENT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED WHICH, SINCE IT HAS A BIASED, BEAM-LIKE N-PLANE DISPLACEMENT FIELD, IS SUITABLE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF BOX GIRDERS. THE ELEMENT PRESENTED IS OF TRAPEZOIDAL SHAPE FOR APPLICATION TO RIGHT, SKEWED, OR CURVED BOX GIRDER BRIDGES WITH CONSTANT WIDTH AND DEPTH. RESULTS OF A MODEL TEST ON AN ACTUAL CURVED BOX GIRDER BRIDGE ARE USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY WHICH CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH THE PROPOSED ELEMENT. /AUTHOR/