Spatial and Temporal Load Distribution in Steel Bridge Superstructures (Vol. III): Investigation of Skew and Abutment Influence on Steel I-Girder Bridge Performance Under Live Load and Long-Term Thermal Effects Through Field Data and Parametric Studies

Details

• Creators:
  Dorado, Ricardo ; Zhou, Siang ; LaFave, James M. ; Fahnestock, Larry A.
• Corporate Creators:
  Illinois Center for Transportation
• Corporate Contributors:
  Illinois Department of Transportation. Bureau of Research ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Abutments Bridge Movement Bridge Performance Data Analysis Environmental Impacts Field Studies Flange Lateral Bending Flanges Girder Bridges Integral Abutment Jointless Bridges Lateral Supports Live Loads Long-term Behavior Numerical Analysis Numerical Simulation Pollution Simulation Skewed Bridge Skewed Structures Steel Bridges Steel I-Girder Bridge Thermal Load

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-ICT-26-010
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.36501/0197-9191/26-012
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Illinois
• Edition:
  Final Report: 7/1/18-7/31/26
• Corporate Publisher:
  Illinois Center for Transportation
• Abstract:
  Skewed steel I-girder integral abutment bridges (IABs) are increasingly used due to their structural efficiency and elimination of deck joints. Thermally induced behavior of such bridge systems, however, remains insufficiently understood. This report documents the live load and thermal behavior of skewed steel I-girder bridges, which are representative of current Illinois bridge practice, through long-term field monitoring and numerical parametric studies. Three-dimensional finite element models developed in ABAQUS showed good agreement with field-measured thermal response and highlighted the importance of realistic representation of support restraint and soil-structure interaction effects. Live load parametric studies demonstrated that skew angle, support restraint, cross-frame configuration, and bottom flange unrestrained length strongly influence flange lateral bending stresses, with significant stresses (up to 28 MPa [4 ksi] on interior girders) observed even below current AASHTO and IDOT skew thresholds. Long-term field monitoring further demonstrated that substantial thermally induced stresses develop in skewed steel I-girder bridges, particularly in IAB configurations, where lateral bending stress ranges up to 30 MPa (4.3 ksi) were observed near the abutment region on an exterior girder. Thermal parametric studies showed that thermally induced lateral bending stresses increase substantially with skew angle (from approximately 13-21 MPa [2-3 ksi] at low skew angles to 38 MPa [5.5 ksi] at high skew angles) and integral support restraint, with the largest stresses concentrated near abutment and pier regions. Overall, the results suggest that stresses due to thermal effects may warrant explicit consideration in the design and evaluation of skewed steel I-girder IABs.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  R27-194
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3a7aaae20868616d9d818f0654e6f94fcb3d0b3d16839cd227933d4178bdd7fb11e4f3a6011f5724b2897676777edc336e8290e40711055c8f0949473a33ff0a
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/92819/dot_92819_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 36.16 MB ]