Road Bridge over the River Sil -

Unique Design Simulations

Peter R. Barrett, P.E., CAE Associates, Middlebury, CT, and Jorge Perez Armino, A.T.P.
Ingeniería, S.L., León, Spain

IBC-09-51

KEYWORDS: Bridges, Finite element analysis, simulation, nonlinear, stress, strain, large deflection, FEA

ABSTRACT:

The "Road Bridge over the River Sil" is a conventional composite road bridge coupled with an arc
suspension design. The hybrid bridge introduces unique design challenges caused by the load interaction
between the conventional bridge and the arc section. A sequential construction nonlinear analysis
approach is selected to assure a robust design through accurate force, moment, displacement and stress
calculations on all members from fabrication to end of bridge life.

INTRODUCTION applied using a desktop workstation to a much

With the infrastructure in the United States
crumbling and the cost for new construction
increasing, it is critical for engineers to have
tools that can more accurately evaluate the
strength, stability and vulnerability of future and
existing bridges. Nonlinear finite element
simulations were previously limited primarily to
aerospace applications because of cost,
complexity and required computing resources.
However, today they can be economically
larger range of applications including the
modeling of entire bridges.
Describing the analysis approach implemented
on the "Road Bridge over the River Sil” provides
an excellent example of how technology can be
used to validate a unique design approach. The
“River Sil Bridge” is two bridges in one, a mixed
section conventional steel box-concrete slab
bridge on the ends and an arc bridge in the
center. Therefore the two bridges act as one
through the critical joint beams. In order to
correctly evaluate the forces and moments in
this connection it is important to correctly
evaluate the construction process and resulting
BRIDGE GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Bridge on the River Sil is composed of five
spans supported by four columns and two end
abutments. There are two 33-meter spans on
either end of the bridge and an 88-meter center
time dependent stress state. This same
analytical approach described within can be
applied to all bridges large and small.
span. The deck consists of two 12.5-meter wide
sections separated by a series of support beams.
The following two figures illustrate the lateral
bridge elevation and a representative section
view.

Figure-1 Bridge Lateral Elevation view

Figure-2 Section View

The central arc section of the bridge consists of in diameter and 12.5mm thick. A more detailed
a main arch beam that is supported by a series drawing of one half of a representative arc
of pinned pipe sections. These ties are 355mm segments is illustrated in Figure 3.
 Figure -3 Center Arc Section Elevation View

Joint beams are used to tie the two independent

roadways together. These beams are primarily
composed of variable depth double T-sections.
The maximum depth of the joint beams is 2
meters. Figure 4 illustrates a representative
joint beam.

Figure -4 Joint Beam

The final fabricated connection between the

arch section and the box beam is illustrated in
Figure 5. The design of this connection was
derived through the combination of the
incremental global construction simulation in
conjunction with a detailed local finite element Figure 5 - Box - Arch Connection joint
sub-model.
 

Global Analysis Model

The ANSYS CivilFEM based global bridge finite

element model is constructed from a series of
tapered section beams, links, auxiliary beams
and support links. CivilFEM (1) is an integrated
pre- , solu - and post-processor add-on to the
world's leading general purpose code ANSYS
(2). It contains a library of pre-defined bridge
types as well as the flexibility to develop user-
defined unique structures. The complete River
Sil bridge model is created using a combination
of standard and built-up sections to represent
the variable shapes. Figure 6 illustrates the
beam finite element model with fixed nodes
(orange triad symbols) representing the column
supports.

Figure 7 Circular Section Definitions

Material properties are extracted from the

CivilFEM material library; the library which
covers standard concrete, steel and soils and
has the ability to create user defined custom
materials for non-standard applications.

The upper arc is constructed with a series of

tapered beams. The pre-defined sections are
easily defined with the section modeler.
Figure -6 Global Finite Element Model Tapered sections are simply constructed directly
using different beginning and end cross-
Each bridge member is simulated with either a
sections. Figures 8 & 9 illustrate two
series of beam or truss elements. The beams
representative ends of an arc section tapered
can represent either constant or tapered
beam.
sections. Section stresses and strains can be
extracted, listed and plotted along the length of
the beam.

CivilFEM automates the process of section

definition, which can then be translated to the
full suite of linear and nonlinear ANSYS link and
beam elements. For the trusses that connect
the arch to the frame, link elements are used.
An initial strain load is included in these
elements to account for the pre-stress effects.
An example of a standard circular section used  
for these elements is illustrated in Figure 7.
Figure 8 Start of Tapered Cross-section

 
Figure 9 – End of Tapered Cross Section
For the composite box girder, the beam section
is composed of a concrete deck and a steel box
section. These built-up sections are a
combination of general and user-defined
geometry joined to form a single composite
cross-section.
The bridge section wizard automates the section
development saving significant modeling time.
The wizard creates beam, shell or 3-d solid
element models. When using a beam approach,
the equivalent beam properties can be extracted
as either concrete or steel material properties.
 
Figure 10 Composite Deck Section
An evolution solution method is used to define
the combined cross section. This incremental
iterative analysis process simulates the effects of
the steel frame carrying the load of the concrete
prior to curing and thus representing analytically
the actual construction process. CivilFEM user
input is simplified to entering activation times for
each material in the model. Sequential load
steps are used to capture the residual stress
state in the deck as result of the construction
process.
For example, first the steel deck material
activation is simulated with the deflections
computed based on the dead weight of the steel
structure with the concrete inactive. CivilFEM
takes advantage of ANSYS’s robust incremental
birth and death loading solution methods using
the final converged state as initial conditions for
the subsequent pouring of the slab. The slab
loads are next added to the deck, but initially no
credit is taken for the concrete stiffness since
the concrete is yet to cure. The curing of the
concrete is simulated with a time dependent
material response (see Figure 11).
Figure 11 - Time Dependent Modulus of
Elasticity
As the concrete cures, the forces in the steel
adjust as the load is transmitted to the concrete.
The final force/deflection/stress state in both
materials represents this time dependent
solution. Also, since the solution is solved as a
time marching analysis, the user is able to
extract intermediate results including forces,
displacements, stresses, and strains anytime
during the construction sequence. Figure 12
provides a comparison of the final deformation
state in a cross-section, with and without the
simulation of the construction process.

 
Figure 12 Comparison of solution with and
without Construction Sequence Analysis
Images of the finite element model with section
shapes active and the bridge box section are
illustrated in the following two figures. 
 
Figure 13 FEA Model with Sections Active
 
Figure 14 Photo of Composite Box Section
Global Analysis Loading
Several loading conditions were considered in
the design process. Design analyses solve for
dead loads (dead weight, construction and
fabrication process, concrete shrinkage) and the
live loads (traffic, wind and seismic response).
The finite element based nonlinear solution
scheme simulates the accumulation of
displacements and stresses based on the actual
loading sequence.
Short-term shrinkage and long-term effects of
creep in the concrete can be evaluated
analytically using nonlinear material modeling.
An example of combined dead and live loading
environment is illustrated as follows:
Figure 15 - Example Live Loading Case
Global Analysis Results
Global analysis results include deflections,
stresses, strains and code checks. The following
series of figures provide examples of typical
output available from CivilFEM. These plots
provide global axial forces and bending moment
diagrams as well as a representative section
with stress plotted. The cross-section stress plot
also provides an illustration of the GUI where
explicit stresses can be listed at the integration
point level.
Displacement and rotations calculated in the
conventional bridge - arc section connection are
easily retrieved for more detailed analysis.
Figure 16 - Axial Force Distribution
Figure 17 - Bending Moment Diagram
Figure 18 - Cross Section Stress GUI
Bridge design checking is based on the selected
European, Russian, Chinese or American design
code. The reinforcement in the slab is designed
with CivilFEM. Figure 19 illustrates the required
axial reinforcement at the bottom of the slab.
Figure 19 Concrete Slab Reinforcement
Design
Figure 20 illustrates a representative ACI
concrete interaction design diagram
automatically produced by CivilFEM. 
Figure 20 - Concrete Interaction Diagram
Local Connection Sub-modeling Analysis
A majority of the bridge can be design checked
using the global model and built-in code
checking. However, the design of the critical
connection between the conventional and arc
sections was verified using a detailed shell finite
element model. The shell elements explicitly
model the built-up section where a nonlinear
through-thickness stress state can be captured.
 Local detailed models are only as accurate as
the boundary conditions applied to the cut-
sections of the model. The ANSYS sub-modeling
technique uses displacements from the global
analyses that are explicitly interpolated onto the
external sections of the shell model. Nominal
stresses at the shell boundaries are matched
with the beam results to verify the accuracy of
the sub-modeling procedure.

Peak Von Mises combined stresses for a

representative load state is illustrated in Figure
21.

Figure 21 - Von Mises stress contours

Conclusions

This paper provides an illustration of how

nonlinear finite element calculations can easily
be integrated into the design process of a non-
standard bridge section. Nonlinear anlaysis
effects included pre-stress, large deflection and
element birth and death. These nonlinear
solution procedures produced a effective design
saving materials and cost.

References

1) CivilFEM Users Manual release 11.0 SP1, help

system, Ingeciber S.A. Madrid, Spain 2009

2) ANSYS® Multi-physics, release 11.0 SP1, help

system, ANSYS Inc. Canonsburg, PA 2008