Mechanical Behavior Analysis of the Pier-Beam Joint Zone in a Continuous Rigid Frame Bridge with V-Shaped Piers and Corrugated Steel Webs

Abstract

The main bridge of the Xinjiang Bridge is a corrugated steel web continuous rigid frame bridge with a span arrangement of 90 m + 165 m + 90 m. The connection area between Segment No. 0 and the V-shaped pier features a complex structure and prominent local mechanical issues. The main pier of the bridge adopts a rigid skeleton concrete structure, and approximately 2 m at both the top and bottom of the V-legs are equipped with UHPC reinforcement layers. To analyze the structural load transfer path of the pier-beam joint zone and prevent concrete cracking, a composite finite element model considering the influence of stress concentration was established based on Saint-Venant's principle. The V-shaped pier, pile cap and pile foundation, as well as Segments No. 0 to No. 6 of the main beam, were selected as the analysis scope. The concrete main structure, corrugated steel web, and prestressing tendons were simulated using solid elements, shell elements, and truss elements, respectively. The results indicate that the compressive stress near the web of Segment No. 0 is relatively high, exhibiting a significant spatial effect. As the thickness of the bottom slab increases from 60 cm to 90 cm, the normal compressive stress at the midspan of Segment No. 0 gradually decreases. When the bottom slab thickness is set to 90 cm, the maximum compressive stress is 18.8 MPa, satisfying the code requirements. Except for local stress concentration zones, both the principal compressive stress and principal tensile stress of the concrete in Segment No. 0 meet the code requirements. The mechanical behavior of the C50 concrete zone and the UHPC reinforcement zone of the pier is reasonable, and the longitudinal prestressed steel bars have a positive effect on the crack resistance of the pedestal area.

Keywords

V-shaped pier / corrugated steel web / continuous rigid frame bridge / composite finite element model / UHPC

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