NUMERICAL-SIMULATION OF CONCRETE SLAB-ON-STEEL GIRDER BRIDGES WITH FRICTIONAL CONTACT

In North America, a large number of concrete old slab-on-steel girder bridges, classified noncomposite, were built without any mechanic conn ections. The stablizing effect due to slab/girder interface contact an d friction on the steel girders was totally neglected in practice. Exp erimental results indicate that this effect can lead to a significant underestimation of the load-carrying capacity of these bridges. In thi s paper, the two major components-concrete slab and steel girders, are treat as two deformable bodies in contact. A finite element procedure with considering the effect of friction and contact for the analysis of concrete slab-on-steel girder bridges is presented. Tile interface friction phenomenon and finite element formulation are described using an updated configuration under large deformations to account for the influence of any possible kinematic motions on the interface boundary conditions. The constitutive model for frictional contact are consider ed as slip work-dependent to account for the irreversible nature of fr iction forces and degradation of interface shear resistance, The propo sed procedure is further validated by experimental bridge models.