STRUCTURAL ASSESSMENT OF COMPOSITE HIGHWAY BRIDGES CONSIDERING VEHICLE-BRIDGE DYNAMIC INTERACTION

Abstract

Over time, as the bridge deck pavement deterioration process increases, the calculated vertical translational displacements and stresses are higher. In this context, the chances of mechanical failure occurrence increase and may cause limitation in the service life of steel and composite (steel-concrete) bridges. Thus, the current work presents a methodology for fatigue analysis developed by the authors through the years. The methodology is devoted specifically for the assessment of composite bridges employing the hot-spot local S-N approach and a coupled vehicle-pavement-bridge system considering progressive pavement deterioration with stochastically generated roughness profiles.