Effect of Time Dependent Variables on Different Types of PSC Box Girder Bridges.

Abstract

Time dependent variables such as temperature gradient, effective temperature, creep, and shrinkage lead to long term deflection in prestressed concrete girders. This in turn effects the serviceability and sustainability of the bridge in the long run. Therefore, research and analysis is of paramount importance before deciding the type of girder to be used. A parametric study was carried out in order to determine the most desirable and efficient type of box girder to be used for a prestressed concrete bridge having a continuous span. Three prestressed concrete box girder bridge models of single, multi-cell rectangular and multi-cell trapezoidal cross section, having similar span, width and depth were taken into consideration. The finite element models were analysed using MIDAS Civil. The behaviour of the box girder cell types under various time dependent properties such as temperature, creep and shrinkage are presented in this paper. The results show that the prestressed concrete box girder bridge of multi-cell rectangular cross section exhibits greater forces and moments due to time dependent variables in comparison to the other two box girder cell types.