Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 General
Concrete box girder bridges are widely used all over the world due to its significant
structural actions. As the popularity of box girders are increasing day by day there is an
increased demand for new research in this area. This is because of their high structural
efficiency as well as better aesthetics compared to open-web type sections. The cross
section of the box girder may take the form of single-cell, multi-spine, or multi-cell as
shown in Fig. 1.1. This research work mainly concentrates on the two most important
topics related to box girder bridges namely, study on the behaviour of box bridges as well
as suggesting simplified methods for their design. The present work mainly focuses on
twin- cell box girder bridges as it is found that ample work has been conducted in the
field of single-cell box bridges.

1.2 Evolution of box girders

The spanning of bridges begins with simple slabs, but as span increased the design depth
also increased. As it is well known that the material near the centre of gravity does not
contribute to the flexural strength, it can be removed. This led to the beam and slab
system. The forces in the bottom reinforcement of the beam and top slab concrete produce
a couple to resist flexure. The number of longitudinal beams increases with deck size
leading to a reduction in the stiffness in the transverse direction. The relatively high
transverse bending curvature leads to the spreading out of webs radially. Hence to keep

1
2 Introduction
the webs in position they have to be tied together, which leads to the evolution of box
girder bridges.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 1.1 Box girder bridge (a) Single - cell (b) Multi - cell (c) Multi - spine [72]

1.3 Structural actions in box girder bridges

It is very clear that the structural actions in the box girder bridges are much more complex
when compared with those of the slab bridges or bridges with open web type cross-
sections. The analysis of box sections using mathematical modelling with all the
structural actions together is a complex task. To avoid these complexities principle of
superposition can be used for identifying the design values. That is the longitudinal action
Introduction 3
and the transverse action can be considered separately and then superpose them to get the
design values. But with the advent of finite strip method and finite element method, these
structural actions can be considered together, including the effect of the interaction
between these different actions. But the final results obtained from these methods are
unable to explicitly provide the effects of individual structural actions. Moreover, huge
amount of computational work is required for the three-dimensional finite element
analysis.
According to researchers Maisel and Roll (1974), the structural actions in the box
girders can be grouped into four different categories.
a) Simple beam action in the longitudinal direction causing longitudinal flexural and
shear stresses across the cross sections.
b) Torsion due to eccentricity of loading, producing shear stresses and warping
stresses in the longitudinal direction.
c) Distortion of the section due to eccentric loading which causes transverse bending
stresses and shear stresses across the section, longitudinal warping stresses (distortional)
and corresponding warping shear stresses.
d) Uneven distribution of the longitudinal stresses causes shear lag along the width of
the top flange. Shear lag induces additional longitudinal stresses at web-top slab
junctions. The behaviour and related structural actions are shown in Fig. 1.2 to Fig. 1.5
(Rajagopalan 2006).

(a) (b)

Fig. 1.2 (a) Shear lag in bending

(b) Enlarged elevation of box beam near support showing shear lag in bending
4 Introduction

(a) (b)
Fig. 1.3 (a) Distortion of cross section due to symmetric (bending) loading
(b) Distortion of cross section due to asymmetric (torsional) loading

(a) (b)
Fig. 1.4 (a) Twisting of mid span cross section without distortion
(b) Twisting of mid span cross section with distortion permitted

C-Compression T-Tension
(a) (b)
Fig. 1.5 Section showing (a) variation of torsional warping stress around perimeter
(b) variation of distortional warping stress around perimeter
In short, due to external forces, the structural actions exhibited in box girder bridges
can be enumerated as;
1. Longitudinal bending
2. St. Venant torsion
Introduction 5
3. Distortion
4. Torsional warping
5. Distortional warping
6. Shear lag
7. Local effects

These structural actions can be considered individually on application of load and the
results may be superposed to get the desired critical design values. This will also help to
reveal which structural action will dominate in the bridge section for a given type of
loading. There are different methods for the analysis of stresses due to different structural
actions. Table 1.1 provides the different methods of analysis and the structural actions
considered in those methods while analysing a box girder bridge.

Table 1.1 Structural actions involved in different analytical methods

(Maisel and Roll 1974)

Sl.no Analytical method Structural actions

Longitudinal

Distortional
Transverse
St. Venant

Torsional

Shear lag
warping

warping
bending

bending
torsion

1 Simple beam theory × ×

2 Simplified frame analysis (SFA) ×
3 Knittel’s method ×
4 Equivalent beam method × ×
5 Kupfer’s method × ×
6 Kolbrunne and Hajdin’s method ×
7 Beam on elastic foundation (BEF) × ×
8 Reissner’s method ×
9 Grillage theory × × × × ×
10 Folded plate /Shell theory × × × × × ×
11 Finite element method × × × × × ×
6 Introduction
Among these methods, the most accurate one is the three-dimensional finite element
method, but the most commonly used method is the simplified frame analysis for the
determination of transverse bending moments. Design engineers throughout the world
commonly adopt simplified frame analysis for proof checking of the box girder bridges
suggested by Maisel and Roll (1974). This helps to avoid the use of expensive software
and tedious computational works.
From the works of Kurian (2005), it is found that the nonlinear performance of
concrete box girder bridges is an active research area since the post cracking behaviour
of the structure is not well understood till date. It is found that box section remains
perfectly elastic up to the initiation of first crack, when loaded. Hence linear elastic
analysis of simplified models representing the pre-cracked range of box girder bridges
are used in the design of box girder bridges. The behaviour of box girders in the post-
cracking range is unpredictable and requires either experimental studies or nonlinear
finite element programs to understand the behaviour of box girder bridges. Even though
not so accurate as the finite element analysis, analytical predictions can be done to
estimate the capacity of box girder bridges. The two major theories used in predicting the
ultimate load of box girder bridges are the space truss analogy and the collapse
mechanism principles. They are based on the lower and upper bound theorems of
plasticity.

1.4 Organisation of the thesis

The entire thesis comprises of six chapters. Following the introductory chapter, the next
chapter discusses on the works conducted on the behaviour of box girder bridges. In
chapter 3 the different approximate methods used in the design of box girder bridges are
discussed. The shortcomings of simplified frame analysis used to determine transverse
bending moments in box girder bridges is described along with the generation of
correction factors which can be used while designing twin-cell box girder bridges. Design
of reinforced concrete structural elements using three-layer sandwich model is discussed
along with validating the results with that of the existing conventional methods used in
India. Chapter 4 provides a detailed description on the prediction of collapse load in
single-cell box girder bridges. Experimental and numerical studies were conducted to
Introduction 7
study the behaviour of single-cell box girder bridges. The selection of dimensions of
models, fabrication of mould, details of reinforcement cage, casting and testing
procedures along with the test set up details are elaborated. The capacity of specimen is
predicted for different modes of failure using the principles of space truss analogy and
collapse mechanism. In chapter 5, the estimation of ultimate load in twin-cell box girder
bridges using truss analogy and collapse mechanism is discussed along with its
comparison with the experimental and numerical results. An attempt is made to formulate
simplified equations to estimate the collapse load in twin-cell box girder bridges using
the principles of collapse mechanism. The results of the proposed equations are then
compared with the experimental and numerical results. The final conclusions are
summarised in chapter 6.

1.5 Summary
The growing need for box girder bridges demand more research in this field. Considering
this demand, the work focuses on understanding the behaviour of box girder bridges
especially twin-cell box girder bridges. Simplified methods used in the design of box
girder bridges are also discussed in detail.