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Barge Bow Force-Deformation Relationships for Bridge Impact-Resistant

Design: Development and Assessment Using Shock Spectrum Approximation

Article in Journal of Bridge Engineering · September 2022

DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001955

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 Barge Bow Force–Deformation Relationships for Bridge
Impact-Resistant Design: Development and Assessment
Using Shock Spectrum Approximation
Wei Fan, Aff.M.ASCE1; Keyu Lai2; Michael Davidson, M.ASCE3; Tao Yang4; Xu Huang, A.M.ASCE5; and Bin Liu6
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by HUNAN UNIVERSITY on 09/28/22. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Abstract: Force–deformation relationships of waterway vessels play an important role in the impact-resistant design of bridge structures.
Characterizations of barge bow force–deformation (i.e., crushing) behaviors found in design provisions and previous research are reviewed as
part of the present study. Results obtained from use of the relationships in impact analyses are then compared with computed responses from
high-resolution finite-element barge–bridge collision simulations. As motivated by the comparisons, new relationships are proposed to fur-
ther enhance designer capabilities for head-on barge impact design. In developing the proposed relationships, a parametric study of nonlinear
dynamic collision simulations is performed to account for impacted pier surface geometry and barge bow versus impacted surface widths.
Considerations are also made for impact velocities and peaks in force magnitudes that can occur for deformations near to the onset of
nonlinear bow crushing. Merits of the proposed force–deformation relationships are then assessed via the shock spectrum approximation
method. Key characteristics of barge bow force–deformation relationships (e.g., initial stiffness, maximum force, residual force plateau,
impulse) are identified across typical ranges of bridge vibration periods and also in relation to propensities of empirical curve components
for bringing about severities in computed structural demands. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001955. © 2022 American Society
of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Bridge design; Extreme event; Barge collision; Bow force–deformation relationships; Shock spectrum approximation.

Introduction
Quantifying vessel collision loads constitutes a key step in
impact-resistant bridge design. For typical uses of bridge design
provisions, equivalent static loads are estimated based on impacting
vessel weight and velocity (AASHTO 2009, 2020; CEN 2006).
However, several experimental and numerical studies (Consolazio
et al. 2006; Consolazio and Cowan 2005; Davidson et al. 2010; Fan
et al. 2016a) have demonstrated that such static analysis approaches
can lead to unconservative predictions of collision-induced bridge
responses. Detailed finite-element (FE) analysis can be used to
simulate contact interactions and dynamic amplification effects
1
Professor, Key Laboratory for Wind and Bridge Engineering of Hunan
Provincial, College of Civil Engineering, Hunan Univ., Changsha 410082,
China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6074
-2917. Email: wfan@hnu.edu.cn
2
Graduate Student, Dept. of Bridge Engineering, College of Civil Engi-
neering, Hunan Univ., Changsha 410082, China. ORCID: https://orcid.org
/0000-0002-2119-177X. Email: laikeyu@hnu.edu.cn
3
Associate Director, Bridge Software Institute, Engineering School of
Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment, Univ. of Florida, P.O. 116580,
Gainesville, FL 32611. Email: michael@ce.ufl.edu
4 load calculation approach are prescribed based on experiments con-
Former Graduate Student, Dept. of Bridge Engineering, College of
Civil Engineering, Hunan Univ., Changsha 410082, China. Email:
ythnugoole@gmail.com
5
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Civil and Mineral Engineering, Univ. of
Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada. Email: xu.huang@mail.utoronto.ca
6
Postdoctoral Fellow, Key Laboratory for Wind and Bridge Engineer-
ing of Hunan Provincial, College of Civil Engineering, Hunan Univ.,
Changsha 410082, China. Email: 763432858@qq.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on March 4, 2022; approved on
July 14, 2022; published online on September 28, 2022. Discussion period
open until February 28, 2023; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Bridge Engineering,
© ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702.
(Fan et al. 2018, 2022; Gholipour et al. 2020; Jiang et al. 2012;
Luperi and Pinto 2016; Oppong et al. 2020; Sha and Hao 2012).
However, this computational approach is not generally suitable
for ordinary bridge design applications (Consolazio and Cowan
2005; Kang et al. 2021). Many alternative (simplified) methods
have therefore been proposed; for example, coupled vessel impact
analysis (CVIA) (Consolazio and Cowan 2005), shock spectrum
analysis (SSA) (Cowan et al. 2015; Fan and Yuan 2012; Fan
et al. 2016b), equivalent static analysis with amplification effects
(Getter et al. 2011), and equivalent dynamic load analysis (Fan
et al. 2016a; Zhang et al. 2016a). A common prerequisite for
using these simplified analysis methods is to determine force–
deformation relationships for impacting vessel portions (e.g.,
bows) and thereby efficiently incorporate the mechanics of vessel
crushing behaviors. The present study focuses on characterization
of barge bow force–deformation relationships for use in the
impact-resistant design of bridge piers.
Background
For bridge design in the United States (AASHTO 2009, 2020), an
empirical barge bow force–deformation curve and static impact
ducted by Meier-Dörnberg (1983). However, impacted pier shape
and size are not accounted for in the design provisions. These geomet-
ric factors were previously demonstrated for barge bows (Consolazio
et al. 2009; Fan and Yuan 2014; Yuan and Harik 2010)—and ship
bows (Fan and Yuan 2014)—to influence force–deformation behav-
iors. In addition, Fan and Yuan (2014) found that impact velocity
influences bow crushing behaviors of ships. However, previous stud-
ies focusing on barges have not directly incorporated impact velocity
into barge bow force–deformation relationships.
Based on quasi-static FE simulations of barge bow crushing,
Consolazio et al. (2009) proposed elastic–perfectly plastic relationships

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