PREDICTION OF SERVICEABILITY LIFE FOR PRE-STRESSED BOX-GIRDER BRIDGE USING VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING UNDER FATIGUE LOAD ACTION

Abstract

For a design of bridge, engineers are keenly looking for an economical structure which can safely transfer loads to the soil without any deformation.  Because it’s quite difficult to guess the upcoming loads with several points to sustain the bridge, moreover almost all the bridges incorporate the safety factor. Design standards vary globally, but the focused part is to ensure the serviceability and safety margin against failure.  Bridges are commonly challenged by fatigue which affects the serviceability. The future service ability related behavior of bridge includes loss of internal stresses, deflection and crack. PSC Bridges of longer span often exhibit larger long-term serviceability related problems than it was assumed in the design calculation. The future serviceability and performance check for PSC Bridge contains a various steps which have tedious and complex formulation because of presence of variable moving loads and other environmental factors applied over service life of bridge. To minimize this complexity we will be better off if we use computer programs to predict long term serviceability related behavior of a given bridge under Environmental conditions and fatigue action with time. In connection with this, this paper is more oriented on enhancing a computer methodology to predict long term serviceability behavior of a PSC box-girder Bridge under a fatigue action takes place over service life of bridge. In this case the problem is only for long term behavior of un-cracked girder under fatigue action during its operational period. The program is developed using MATLAB, and MATHCAD PRIME spread sheet and it is illustrated using particular example of PSC box-Girder bridges.