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A thin-walled box beam finite element for curved bridge analysis

1984; Elsevier BV; Volume: 18; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0045-7949(84)90148-2

1879-2243

S.H. Zhang, L.P.R. Lyons,

Structural Analysis of Composite Materials

Practical design of single and multispan curved bridges requires an analysis procedure which is easy and economical to use, and provides a physical insight into structural response under general loading conditions. In the work presented, the thin-walled beam theory has been directly combined with the finite element technique to provide a new thin-walled box beam element. The beam element includes three extra degrees-of-freedom over the normal six degrees-of-freedom beam formulation, to take into account the warping and distortional effects as well as shear. The beam may be curved in space and variable cross-sections may be included. The performance of the box beam element has been compared favourably against results obtained from full 3D shell element analysis, differential equation solutions and experimental results.