Analysis of horizontally curved pseudo slab type bridge deck continuous over discrete pier supports

Abstract

A computer added method of analysis has been developed for a curved slab type bridge deck with a variable thickness along the radial direction incorporating one dimensional finite difference method in conjunction with the method of consistent deformation. The deck is simply supported along the radial edges and may be continuous over arbitrarily located interior pier supports and is subjected to any arabitrary loading due to line load, patch load, uniformly distributed load and point load. A generalized computer program, FSTCBA, in FORTRAN-77 is developed to readily apply the proposed method. The accuracy of the proposed method has been varified using some available solutions. The method appears to be accurate and the computer program is shown to be easy to use and economical with respect to C.P.U. time and storage required. Several examples are analyzed using the proposed method to study the effect of various parameters on deck behavior and distribution of internal forces. The proposed method is also used to verify the accuracy of the simplified method of analysis.