Compurtrs & Structures Vol IR. No I. PP. 27-32.

1984
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DYNAMICRESPONSEOFORTHOTROPIC
CURVED BRIDGE DECKS DUE TO
MOVING LOADS
S. s. DEYt
Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721302, India
and
N. BALASUBRAMANIAN~
Military Engineering Services, India
(Received 15 March 1982; received for publication 21 October 1982)
Abstract-The dynamic response of horizontally curved bridge decks simply supported along the radial edges
under the action of the moving vehicle is investigated. The bridge deck is idealised as a number of finite strips with
orthotropic elastic properties. The stiffness and mass matrix of an individual element were derived using a
homogeneous differential equation of an orthotropic plate in polar co-ordinates. The vehicle is idealized as a sprung
mass moving at a constant speed in a circular path parallel to the central line of the bridge. The unsprung mass of
the vehicle is assumed to be always in contact with the bridge surface during its motion. Viscous damping is taken
into account for both bridge and vehicle. Dynamic deflections and moments are presented for the mid-point of the
bridge deck and the values have been compared with the available analytical solution.
damping matrix
NOTATION
bending rigidity/unit length in radial direction
bending rigidity/unit length in angular direction
torsional rigidity/unit length
bending rigidity due to coupling of the curvatures in the
orthogonal directions due to Poissons ratio
concentrated dynamic force
acceleration due to gravity
stiffness matrix
mass matrix
bending moment/unit length in the radial direction
bending moment/unit length in the angular direction
twisting moment/unit length
harmonic number
load vector
inner radius
outer radius
mean radius
Kirchoffs edge reaction with outward drawn normal in
the direction of r
Kirchoffs edge reaction with outward drawn normal in the
direction of 0
deflection of the middle surface of the plate
bridge deck angle subtended at the centre
Poissons ratio in the radial direction
Poissons ratio in the angular direction
ND,
H/D,
square or rectangular matrix
diagonal matrix
INTRODUCTION
When a vehicle traverses a bridge, the increase of bend-
ing moments and deflections compared with those
produced under static loading, has generally been ac-
counted for by the use of an impact factor dependent
only upon the span of the deck, applied to static design
conditions[ 11. It has been observed that in some cases
+Assistant Professor.
fAssistant Executive Engineer,
the recommended factor may considerably under esti-
mate the effects that have been measured in practice[2-
51. In addition, there is the possibility of reduced fatigue
life, which has been studied by Tung[6] and also the
discomfort and alarm experienced by pedestrian users
when the level of vibration of bridge exceeds human
tolerance level [7].
The extensive use of curved slab bridges in the con-
struction of highway system has drawn the attention of
several research worker in the response anlysis of such
structure subjected to moving vehicle. The work done so
far is based on the idealization of the bridge deck as a
curved beam, curved thin walled open section girder[l,
91 or as a curved box girder using finite element [ lo] and
finite strips[ll]. A survey of recent work done in this
field has been compiled by Huang[ 121.
In the present paper the vehicle model of Smith[l3] is
used. The bridge deck is idealized using the concept of
finite strip method in polar coordinate but the difference
lies in the derivation of element properties. The method
presented in the paper avoids the polynomial represen-
tation and minimization procedure associated with finite
strip method. The element stiffness and mass matrices
were derived using the governing differential equation of
orthotropic plate in polar coordinates. The study is
limited to predicting dynamic deflections and moments of
the bridge using high precision element rather than pre-
dicting the effect of several variables such as bridge deck
and vehicle parameters upon the dynamic response of
the bridge structure.
Modal analysis is adopted for determining the dynamic
deflection and moments since the method is particularly
suitable for linear structures with many degrees of
freedom. The equation of motion in generalized coor-
dinates are solved by the Runge-Kutta method using
Gills variations.
Structure idealization
The bridge structure as shown in Fig. 1 constitutes a
general type of deck slab encountered in the present day
27
S. S. DEY and N. BALASUBRAMANIAN
Fig. 1. Simply supported composite curved slab-beam bridges.
highway system, i.e. curved slabs with radial and cross
radial girders which is generally treated as an equivalent
orthotropic plate. This is idealized as a number of con-
centric parallel strips as shown in Fig. 2. The properties
of each strip are regarded constant within the strip but
can vary from strip to strip. The dimension and coor-
dinate system of a single element are indicated in Fig. 3.
Vehicle idealization
The vehicle is represented by a single degree freedom
system comprising sprung and unsprung masses with
viscous damping included in the suspension. The ideal-
ized mechanical system is shown in Fig. 2. It is assumed
that the vehicle travels at a constant velocity along the
circular pathand the unsprung wheel is always in contact
with the road surface which is smooth. The centrifugal
Fig. 2. Idealization of curved bridge deck and vehicle system.
Fig. 3. Individual elements.
force on the vehicle is taken as counteracted by the
super-elevation in the bridge deck.
Derioation of element stifiness and mass matrices
The detlection w within the strip may be expressed as
u
w(r, 0) = C W(r) sin@
fl=, d
which satisfies the simply supported boundary conditions
at the :.adial edges of the element. It ensures
w=o (2)
at 8=0and B=#.
The requirement that eqn (1) should satisfy the homo-
geneous differential equation of the plate in polar coor-
dinates
Da%+2lJ a4w
r a4 r 2 ar 2ae2
+I& 8~ j 2Dr a37 2f; a3wZ
r4 ae4 r ar- r ar ae
D, a*w+2( 0, +H) a% Raw
- 7- i ?
- - T- - - aB" +7~=0 (4)
r
w = x (Anrml t B.rm2 t C, r m3+D,rq) sin NB (5)
=1
where A,, B,, C,, and Q, are four arbitrary constants
corresponding to harmonic number n and m, (s =1,2,3,
4) are the roots of the auxiliary equation resulting from
eqn (4). The roots for the nth harmonic are given by
m,=lt ~(l-i-a+2N~)~(~(l
!
+a! t 2N*f i ) *- cu( N2- 1) ' ) 1' 2] " 2
( 6)
where
4 H
a=-- fi=,andN=n.
0, , 4
The four constants A,, B,, C, and D, are determined
Dynamic response of orthotropic curved bridge decks due to moving loads
from the boundary conditions at the curved edges of an In compact form
29
element as, at r = ri
vi = - v,
Mi =t Mp
andat r-r*
v,= v,
M,=-M,
where
(
1 aw 1 a%
--Do yq-yrg
)I
Using conditions (7a) and (7b) in eqn (5) gives
sin Nt?
- H,RI
- G,R:*
H,R;
where
G, = Dr{m,(m, - 2)*t 2/3(1- m,) - a(m, - N3))
H, =DI{m,(m, - 1) t a(m, -N)}
The geometric
edges are
and
where
Hence,
{d} = sin NB [U] {A}
(161
i.e. {A}=& [ U-1 {d}.
(17)
Substituting (A) in eqn f 12) yields
{FJ = [U u- II4 (18)
(7b) or
vi = I&l 44 (19)
where [KC] is the stiffness matrix of the individual ele-
ment.
Element mass matrix
From eqn (5), the deflection w for the nth harmonic
(8)
can be written as,
w, = {R.JT{A} sin NO.
(20)
(9) Substituting eqn (17) in the above equation
w, = {RJT] U-lldI= IS,1 Id).
(21)
Rf = r$ms-3)
Rf* = rkms-3)
R: = $-2)
R; = $-2)
p ={(H t 2D,&/D,}N*.
(11)
The subscript s takes the values 14. In compact form
G2RT
-f&R;
- GzRT*
H2R;
G,R$ GaRt
- HJR; - H,R;
- G,R: - G,R:
H,R: H,RI;
I
{F) = sin NO IL]{A}.
(12)
boundary conditions at the two curved
at r =ri wi =w, #i =(b
at r=ro
wo= w, cbo=d)
d=$.
(13)
(14)
The element mass matrix can be computed as follows:
[M,]= hp/r,Ir{S.}T{S,}sin NOrdrdO
i 0
= hp~[li-][lg{R,h.R~}Trdr] [Vl. (22)
ri
The stiffness and mass matrix of the whole structure is
obtained by computing the properties of the individual
strips in succession and fitting them into global system of
coordinates.
Free vibration analysis
The equation of motion for an undamped structure
corresponding to nth harmonic can be written in the
form,
WfnlbinI+fkfn11qnI ={Ol (23)
where {qn}is the vector of nodal line displacements and
rotations for the complete system, [M.] is the system
mass matrix and [ZLI is the system stiffness matrix. The
standard eigen value formulation of the problem is
therefore
[[&I - wt%KlIIYnI = {OI (24)
where 6_* is the eigen value and {Y,} is the correspond-
(15)
30 S. S. DEY and N. BALASUBRAMANIAN
ing eigenvector. An iterative technique was adopted for
solving eqn (24). The eigenvalue for any particular har-
monic may be arranged in an ascending order of mag-
nitude in a frequency matrix as follows:
[%Z _ z
In1 =
W2,
.
(25)
. . _ 2
wm n 1
where m is the total degrees of freedom for the entire
structure. In addition the corresponding eigenvector may
be arranged in a modal matrix
[Y.l= [{YlJIY2HY3~~ WmIl (26)
where each column represents the corresponding eigen-
vector with reference to a particular mode.
Forced vibration analysis
The equation of motion of forced vibration of the
structure may be expressed as
[Kl{ii.~+ [Win}+ tL1Iq.J = iQ.1 (27)
where [D] is the viscous damping matrix and {Q.} is the
column matrix of external forces. If the system is pro-
portionally damped, these equations of motion can be
decoupled by introducing coordinate transformation be-
tween the nodal line parameters {q_}and the generalized
coordinates {p,,} as
14) = [ Ylbl. (28)
Application of this transformation to eqn (27) gives
TLJItinI+ rKl{dJ+ Kl{PJ=m (29)
where the diagonal matrices are given by
IL1 = [YlT [Kl[Yl
[ELI = [YlT [Dl[Yl (30)
]CJ = 1 YlT [&I [Yl.
The generalized force vector corresponding to general-
ized coordinates is given by
{QJ = 1 YnlIQJ. (31)
In this analysis only one strip is loaded and the load
vector for this strip is represented by Vf.). The load
vector for the complete structure and the modal matrix
may be partitioned as follows:
Since the other strip is unloaded, it follows that {Qi} and
{Q2} will be zero. [Z.] is the matrix of elements cor-
responding to the loaded strip only.
Using the relations (32) the generalized force vector
reduces to
{Q] = Wll Vf. (33)
By applying the principle of virtual work, it is found that
(f.)= FH (34)
where F is the concentrated dynamic force applied by
the vehicle and {s,} is equal to {S.} with local coor-
dinates (r, @) substituted by (r,, vdr,) where r, is the
radius of the concentric arc path on which the vehicle
moves, v is the velocity of vehicle and t is the time taken
after the vehicle enters the bridge to arrive at the point
under study.
Finally, eqn (29) reduces to the form as
W+ r-LrrKl~dI+ ~W{PJ= ~LF[zITuI. (35)
The value of the dunamic force, F, applied by the vehicle
may be written down by equilibrium consideration.
Assuming that the coordinate z represents the vertical
deflection of the sprung mass beneath its rest position
under gravity, F may be expressed as
F=M,g-M.ItK,(z-w)tC,(i-i)
(36)
where the mass of the vehicle M,, is the sum of the
sprung and unsprung parts, M, and M. respectively. The
deflection of the bridge underneath the unsprang mass
may be expressed by eqn (21) which is modified to the
following form by using eqns (28) and (32) as
w = ISNZl{P}. (37)
Similarly the velocity and accleration ofthe bridge sur-
face under the unsprung mass may be written as
k = ~S]ElU.] (38)
and
i+ = {sItzl{ti~. (39)
Substituting eqns (37)-(39) in eqn (36), the dynamic force
becomes
F=M,g-M,{S,}[Z.l{B,}+F, (40)
where the spring force F, is given by
F, = K(z - {S.HZl{p])+ CJ%%NZl~~l). (41)
It may be noted that
C, =2&M,&
(42)
where A, is the proportion of critical damping in the
vehicle suspension.
On substituting eqns (30) and (45) into eqn (39), the
uncoupled equations may be written in the form,
Ml {PI = PI (43)
where
[Al = [II + MuEl[Ll -Vl{Sn} (44)
IW=(Fs +gM)~Ll~[ZITIS.}T-2A,~itl[Zl{lj}- P~{P}
(45)
Dynamic response of orthotropic curved bridge decks due to moving loads
31
Table 1. and
F
f=_-2.
MS
w
1 strips First harmonic
frequency No. natural frequency, Hz
It may be noted that in the above equation, the damping
matrix [I,- [H] has been replaced by 2A,G,[Z] where
A, is the proportion of critical damping in the fundamen-
tal mode of the bridge. This is based on the assumption
that there is a constant damping in each mode. Runge
Kutta-Gill integration scheme was adopted to solve the
modal equation of motion (43) instead of direct in-
tegration technique. This algorithim is self starting, fast
in convergence and well adopted to use with computer.
From eqn (43), we get
{ii} = [A]-{II}.
(47)
In order to use this technique, the equations are written
in the first order form by introducing the following sub-
stitutions
where
(48)
and
az=.Y,vz=&dz=r
Once this transformation is carried out, the solution of
the equations now proceed using a standard algorithm.
The deflections, velocities and acclerations of the
bridge surface are calculated by using eqns (37)-(39)
respectively.
Dynamic bending moments in any strip for the nth
harmonic can be calculated by using eqn (5)
(49)
Numerical studies
The example attempted deals with the analysis of a
concrete curved bridge deck for which analytical solu-
tions are available in [14] is used as a check on the
1 3.9065
2 13.4872
3 46.3243
4 110.676
5 209.663
accuracy of the present method. The dimensions and
parameters of the bridge deck are as follows: inner
radius (RI) = 12.0 m; outer radius (RO) =18.0 m; 4 =
45; t = 48 cm; pC = 0.2; EC = 2.5 x lokg/m; and unit
weight of concrete p = 244.65 kg sec/m*.
The rigidities of the slab are calculated as follows:
D, = De = Ec t3
12(1 _ P,2) = 0.24 x 1Okg m*/m
Dfi =i (1 - p,)D, =0.96 x 10 kg m*/m
D, =p,D, =0.48 x 10 kg m*/m.
In case of composite slab bridges, the above
parameters can be determined either experimentally
or by using the formulae suggested by Heins and
Hails[lS].
Free uibration analysis
The natural frequencies have been calculated and the
first five frequencies are listed in Table 1.
The fundamental frequency of the bridge is found to be
3.9065 Hz. This is in close agreement with the results
published in [14] where the first natural frequency pre-
dicted as 3.725 Hz.
Dynamic response
For dynamic response analysis the characteristics
values for a typical rigid axle vehicle was choosen:
sprung mass (MS)= 21800 kg; unsprung mass (MU) =
5450 kg; total mass (My) = 27250 kg; natural frequency =
3.0 Hz; stiffness of suspension spring = 3939000 N/m;
and proportion of critical damping = 0.03.
The figure given for damping is based on test on full
scale bridge with dynamically recorded wheel loads of
heavy vehicle conducted by Biggs et al. [16].
Table 2.
Vehicle
position
on span
Radial Tangential
Deflection moment moment
No. of No. of No. of w, cm
& kgcm & kgcm
strips harmonics modes Static Dynamic x lo- x 10-4
Present
analysis 0.5 7 1 16 0.85 1.05 2.88 I .96
Results of [15] 0.5 10 - 1.586 2.53 1.43
Dynamic increment
ration for deflection
= DIR = Instantaneous dynamic value-static value with load in same position as in dyn, case
static value with load at midspan
32 S. S. DEY and N. BALASUBRAMANIAN
1' 5
r
,DYNAMlC
:;:I
I I
0 02 0.L 06 - 0.8 10 vt
0
3r
0 02 01. 06 0% 1.0 vt
@rf
Fig. 4. Dynamic response of curved bridge deck at the mid-span as the vehicle moves along the central line of the
bridge deck.
The initial conditions required for response cal-
culations are stated below: initial compression of vehicle
springs = 7.00 mm; proportion of critical damping in
bridge = 0.01; and velocity of vehicle = 15 mlsec.
Dynamic deflection and moments
Dynamic deflection and moments at midspan have been
computed. The values are shown in Table 2. The values
have been compared with those published in [ 141 and are
seen to be in general agreement. The variation of
deflection and moments at the midspan of the deck as the
vehicle moves along the central line of the span are
shown in Fig. 4.
CONCLUSIONS
A high precision element with the displacement func-
tion which satisfies the plate bending differential equation
as well as boundary conditions is presented. The pro-
cedure may be identified as an analytical finite strip
method which leads to efficient solution of the bridge
deck with few elements. Convergence is achieved merely
by increasing the number of harmonics rather than by
increasing the number of elements. The results show that
there is significant variation of response across the
transverse section of the bridge. The dynamic analysis
carried out with the proposed formulation gives reason-
ably accurate results even with one harmonic term.
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