ANALYSIS OF CURVED MULTICELL BOX-GIRDER ASSEMBLAGES

A method of analysis is proposed for curved multicell box girder grill ages. The method can be used to analyze box girder grillages comprisin g straight and/or curved segments. Each segment can be modelled by a n umber of beam elements. Each element has three nodes and the nodal deg rees of freedom (DOF) consist of the six DOF for a conventional beam p lus DOF to account for torsional warping, distortion,distortional warp ing, and shear lag. This element is an extension of a straight element that was developed earlier. For a more realistic analysis of the inte rsection regions of non-colinear box girder segments, the concept of a rigid connector is introduced, and the compatibility requirements bet ween adjoining elements in those regions are discussed. The results of the analysis showed good agreement with the shell finite element resu lts, but the proposed method of analysis needs a fraction of the time and effort compared to the shell finite element analysis.