Author(s)

R.C. Battista & M.S. Pfeil

Abstract

Both static and dynamic problems of contact pressures and interaction between vehicle tyres, flexible asphalt pavement and the steel structure of slender orthotropic decks are briefly brought into focus. The main causes of occurrence of observed cracks in an actual large steel bridge which has been, under random traffic loading, frequently damaged by fatigue of welded joints and details are then unveiled. This is done with the aid of numerical modeling and experimental strain measurements performed both in situ and in the laboratory on a prototype scale model of the actual bridge's steel orthotropic deck, having longitudinal stiffeners of trapezoidal cross-section. Refined numerical results from the experimentally calibrated finite element model are then used to address the main problems and to envisage so

Keywords