Răcănel, I.-R. Theoretical Study Regarding the General Stability of Upper Chords of Truss Bridges as Beams on Continuous or Discrete Elastic Supports. Infrastructures2024, 9, 56.
Răcănel, I.-R. Theoretical Study Regarding the General Stability of Upper Chords of Truss Bridges as Beams on Continuous or Discrete Elastic Supports. Infrastructures 2024, 9, 56.
Răcănel, I.-R. Theoretical Study Regarding the General Stability of Upper Chords of Truss Bridges as Beams on Continuous or Discrete Elastic Supports. Infrastructures2024, 9, 56.
Răcănel, I.-R. Theoretical Study Regarding the General Stability of Upper Chords of Truss Bridges as Beams on Continuous or Discrete Elastic Supports. Infrastructures 2024, 9, 56.
Abstract
New or in-service truss bridges, with or without upper bracing systems, may display instability phenomena such as general lateral torsional buckling of the upper chord. The buckling of structural elements, particularly in the case of steel bridges, can be associated with the risk of collapse or temporary/permanent withdrawal from service. Buckling poses a significant danger as it often occurs at lower load values compared to those considered during the design phase. Additionally, this phenomenon can manifest suddenly, without prior warning, rendering intervention for its prevention impossible or futile. In contemporary times, most research and design calculation software offer the capability to establish preliminary values for buckling loads, even for highly intricate structures. This is typically achieved through linear eigenvalue buckling analyses, often followed by significantly more complex large displacement nonlinear analyses. However, interpreting the results for complex bridge structures can be challenging, and their accuracy is difficult to ascertain. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to introduce an original method for a more straightforward estimation of the buckling load of the upper chord in steel truss bridges. The method utilizes the theory of beams on an elastic foundation. The buckling load of the upper chord was determined using both the finite element method and the proposed methodology, yielding highly consistent results.
Keywords
truss bridges; buckling; eigenvalue buckling; large displacements; buckling load; finite element method; conservative loads
Subject
Engineering, Civil Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
